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| India-Pakistan |
| Blast part of effort to drive India out? |
| 2010-02-28 |
| NEW DELHI: Damayanti Behn and Sunita Kumari were out when the Taliban assault team burst into their room in Kabul on Friday morning, shooting on the bed, under the bed, and in the wardrobe. They would have shot Basharat Pathan but let him go when they heard his name, thinking he was an Afghan, not aware Pathan is a famous name among Gujarati Muslims. These three Indians are members of SEWA, a non-profit organisation, and they are in Afghanistan running a project by which they train war widows, orphans and destitutes to become earning members of society. They were lucky. Major Deepak Yadav of the Army Education Corps was not. He was in Afghanistan to teach English to its security personnel, but the Taliban got him. Major Jyotin Singh, unarmed, of the Army Medical Corps, working in the Indira Gandhi children's hospital, grappled with the suicide bomber forcing him to detonate himself outside the Arya guesthouse. This gave others nearby to run for cover and save themselves. But the Major from Manipur fell. Bhola Ram, deputy general manager of Power Grid Corporation who was on his last month in Kabul, having completed the high-profile Pul-e-Khumri transmission link, was also killed. As India brought back the bodies of nine of its citizens from Kabul on Sarturday, there is a growing sense that it is part of a concerted effort by Pakistan and its Taliban proxies to get India out of Afghanistan. The Taliban attack on Arya guesthouse, Park Residence and Safi Landmark Hotel in central Kabul also comes a day after the first foreign secretaries' talks between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, PM Manmohan Singh asked President Hamid Karzai on Saturday to ensure safety and security of all Indians in Afghanistan. Karzai had called Singh to condole the attack. A special Indian Air Force plane carrying the bodies of six of the Indians killed in the Kabul terror attack arrived on Saturday evening at the Palam air base, where President Pratibha Patil attended the wreath-laying ceremony. Who did it and why? Indian and Afghan intelligence are already at work, said sources. India has now suffered three major attacks against it in 20 months. The first attack, in July 2008, was by the Haqqani network, said sources. The second, in October 2009, was by a combination of Haqqani and Lashkar-e-Taiba. After Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, the needle of suspicion has pointed to the Haqqani network, and their sponsors, Pakistan's ISI. This was confirmed by the US director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, on February 2, when he told the US Senate that Pakistan "has continued to provide support to its militant proxies, such as Haqqani Taliban, Gul Bahadur group, and Commander Nazir group." According to security sources here, the assault was very much India-centric, which has raised many questions among security officials. In recent weeks, particularly at the Nato conference in Brussels, the London and Istanbul meetings, Pakistan has been relatively clear that it wants to see the back of India in Afghanistan. This message was made clear by the Pakistan army chief on February 2 to foreign journalists. Former diplomat G Parthasarathy said, "There should be no doubt about ISI involvement, and even incitement of this attack. Sadly, we learn no lessons from our past experience." It may be too far-fetched to draw a link between the recent India-Pakistan talks and the blast. But it may be part of Pakistan's new mindset that with the US needing it more and more in Afghanistan, they feel they can advance their agenda regarding India without any significant costs. Parthasarathy said, "Pakistani officials are gloating at what they claim is US pressure which compels us to the dialogue table." But terrorism analyst B Raman points to the possibility of a Pune-Kabul link, whether it could have been a follow-up to the Pune attack of February 13. "The investigation into the Pune blast has not yet made much headway. It has not yet been clearly established who carried it out. The LeT is among the suspects. The possibility of a linkage between the Pune and Kabul incidents has to be kept in view during the investigation. If such a linkage ultimately emerges, that would indicate a new jihadi offensive by LeT against Indian nationals and interests not only in India, but also in Afghanistan and possibly in Bangladesh and the Maldives too in the months to come." |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #3 Nuke Rawalpindi. They'll get the message. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-02-28 23:55 |
| #2 OTOH CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA INSIDER SEES REVOLUTION BREWING. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-02-28 21:03 |
| #1 CHIN MIL FORUM POSTER > argues that unlike China INDJUH has NO STRATEGIC DEPTH, + that in any new MAJOR SINO-INDIAN WAR ONE PLA SECOND ARTY DF-11 NUKE SRBM ALONE FIRED AGZ NEW DELHI WILL CAUSE SUCH NATIONAL DAMAGE AS TO FORCE INDIA TO SURRENDER QUICKLY??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-02-28 21:01 |