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| Afghanistan |
| Kabul attack: U.S. warning was accurate |
| 2008-08-03 |
| Afghan investigators believe that the suicide bomber who crashed an explosives-laden car into the Indian Embassy in Kabul last month was a Pakistani national. Intelligence sources said Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Hamza Shakoor, tentatively identified as a 22-year-old resident of Pakistan's Gujranwala district, is believed to have driven the white sports utility vehicle used to bomb the Indian mission. Over 100 kg of military-grade explosives were welded into the chassis of the SUV, leading to an explosion in which 54 people, including four Indian diplomats and guards, were killed. Shakoor, intelligence sources say, is thought to have been recruited by the Lashkar in 2006. He trained at Lashkar camps before being despatched on his mission. According to the sources, Shakoor was first tasked with participating in a fidayeen-style commando attack on the mission, but then he volunteered to carry out the suicide attack himself after its defences were upgraded just days before the attack. Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has promised an independent investigation into the Kabul attack after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Colombo. |
| Posted by:Fred |