Suicide Car Blast Kills 41 in Afghan Capital
<p>KABUL, Afghanistan— A huge blast from a suicide car bomb at the gates of the Indian
Embassy in Kabul killed 41 people and wounded more than 130 on Monday
in the latest sign of a sharp deterioration in Afghanistan, where
combat deaths have surpassed Iraq’s in the past two months. </p>
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Suicide Blast Kills Scores in Kabul
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Major Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan Since 2001
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37 Wounded by Series of Blasts in Pakistan
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<h2>Times Topics: Afghanistan</h2>
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A wounded Afghan police officer standing among the dead and wounded
near the Indian Embassy after an attacker rammed a car bomb into the
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Locals ran from the scene of a suicide attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday.
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<p> It was the deadliest suicide car bombing in Kabulsince the American-led invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban in 2001. It comes as Afghan and Western officials have noted with alarm both the weakness of the government of President Hamid Karzai and the growing strength of Pakistani militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. </p><p>Among
the victims of the attack, the first in seven years on an embassy in
Kabul, were at least four Indian citizens: the Indian defense attaché,
a political counselor and two other Indian officials. Six Afghan police
officers were also killed. Many of the rest appeared to be civilians.</p><p>The
fact that the Indian Embassy was attacked raised suspicions among
Afghan officials that Pakistani operatives allied with the Taliban had
used the bombing to pursue Pakistan’s long power struggle with India.</p><p>India said it wouldinvestigate what the Indian Foreign Ministry called “this cowardly terrorist attack.”</p><p> Afghan and Western officials have said a recent spate of sophisticated, deadly attacks shows the growing influence of Al Qaeda
and other foreign terrorists over Pakistani militants in the tribal
areas, and possibly alliances between them. Part of the insurgent
strategy has been to carry out suicide bomb attacks in the cities. </p><p>
Suicide bombers attacked the five-star Serena Hotel in Kabul in January
and mounted an elaborate assassination attempt on Mr. Karzai during a
military parade in April, an attack that Afghan intelligence linked
directly to Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence.</p><p>Pakistani
intelligence has long supported militant groups fighting in Kashmir and
Afghanistan as a means to influence regions on its borders and,
according to some Western diplomats and military officials, it
maintains those links today, including with some elements of the
Taliban. While Pakistani militants with links to the Taliban have
bolstered their strength in the border areas, the Taliban in
Afghanistan have clashed with international troops in the worst summer
fighting since the Taliban fell seven years ago. The Taliban have
resurfaced strongly in the southern and eastern parts of the country. </p><p>In
a statement on Monday, Mr. Karzai said the “enemies of peace in
Afghanistan” wanted to hurt Kabul’s international relationships,
“particularly with India.”</p><p>“Such attacks will not hamper Afghanistan’s relations with other nations,” he said.</p><p>The
Indian Embassy is on a leafy thoroughfare close to the Afghan Interior
Ministry, in what is supposed to be one of the best-guarded
neighborhoods of the city, protected by police roadblocks. But the
bomber managed to get through, and rammed a car laden with explosives
into the embassy gates.</p><p>Witnesses said the bomber struck as two
diplomatic vehicles were approaching the gates. Nearby, people were
standing in line for visas and shopping in a market. The explosion left
body parts and bloodstained clothing strewn in the rubble. Ambulance
sirens wailed as residents peered at the wreckage of a dozen vehicles. </p><p>Hajji
Khial Muhammad, 45, one of those in line for an Indian visa, said he
saw more than a dozen people who appeared to be dead. “I was shocked
and could not hear anything after the attack,” he said. “But I saw at
least 10 men and three women in the queue who were probably killed.”</p><p>Muhammad
Ajmal, 26, a shopkeeper in the market, said the explosion had sent
goods from his shelves spilling out. “I could barely stand up,” he
said. </p><p>A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahed, denied
responsibility. “The suicide bomb attack was not carried out by
Taliban,” he said by telephone. “We strongly reject that accusation. We
don’t know who carried it out.” </p><p>The Taliban frequently disavow knowledge of attacks that cause heavy civilian casualties.</p><p>Pakistani
intelligence, which regards Afghanistan as its backyard, fiercely
resents India’s growing influence here, Afghan officials said. The
Afghan Interior Ministry said it believed that the attack was carried
out in collaboration with “an active intelligence service in the
region.”</p><p>The ministry did not elaborate on the identity of that
service. But relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have become so
strained after a series of attacks that Mr. Karzai has threatened to
send troops across the border to attack militants operating from bases
in Pakistan.</p><p>India, meanwhile, is a close ally of Afghanistan. It
is spending $750 million on building roads and power lines here in what
has become India’s biggest bilateral aid program ever. It has opened
consulates in several parts of the country and promoted initiatives to
offer scholarships for Afghan students, while Afghan television has
shown Indian soap operas. </p><p>But there have been some challenges
to India’s influence. Several Indian workers have been killed in recent
months, and Indian television shows have been restricted because of
religious objections. Senior Indian Foreign Ministry officials have
said for months that they were worried about the safety of Indian
personnel in Afghanistan. </p><nyt_author_id><div id="authorId"><p>Abdul
Waheed Wafa reported from Kabul, and Alan Cowell from Paris. Sangar
Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul, Somini Sengupta from New
Delhi, and Carlotta Gall from Islamabad, Pakistan.</p><p>Abdul Waheed
Wafa reported from Kabul, and Alan Cowell from Paris. Sangar Rahimi
contributed reporting from Kabul, Somini Sengupta from New Delhi, and
Carlotta Gall from Islamabad, Pakistan.</p></div></nyt_author_id> scary! our world is outta peace right now.
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