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| An Afghan policeman walks among the dead and wounded bodies at the site of a suicide attack near the Indian Embassy in central Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, July 7, 2008. A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in what appeared to be the deadliest attack in Afghanistan's capital since the fall of the Taliban. |
UN condemns India embassy attack
July8, 2008
The UN has strongly condemned the bomb attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which killed 41 people and injured 141.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday's attack could not be justified by any "political agenda or grievance". Five embassy staff - India's
defence attache, another diplomat, two security guards and an Afghan - were killed.
No-one has admitted being behind the attack, the deadliest in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
who is in Japan for the G8 summit, said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms". "No political agenda or grievance can justify such
reprehensible means," Mr Ban said. The UN Security Council described the attack as "reprehensible act of terrorism" .
Close allies
The Afghan interior ministry has said it believed the attack was carried out "in co-ordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the
region". It did not specify which intelligence service it suspected of involvement. But in the past, Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being
behind a number of attacks on its soil. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denied his country was involved in the blast.
"Why should Pakistan destabilise Afghanistan? It is in our interest, a stable Afghanistan. We want stability in the region," he told reporters on the
sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. The bodies of the four Indians killed in the attack were flown to the Indian capital, Delhi, late
on Monday by a special Indian air force plane.
India is one of Afghanistan's closest allies and leading donors - it has pledged to spend $750m on helping rebuild the country's shattered
infrastructure. The bombing dominated the front pages of Indian newspapers on Tuesday. "Terror strikes India in Kabul," headlined the Indian Express
newspaper. "After the Kabul bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that is has avoided debating so far," the newspaper wrote.
"New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military
presence there." Monday's attack happened when a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the gates of the Indian embassy.
Afghanistan has seen a sharp increase in violence, particularly in the south and east - and Taleban militants recently vowed to step up their attacks in
the capital. But the latest blast - in what was supposed to be a secure area of Kabul - will greatly concern Afghan government officials, says the BBC's
Martin Patience in Kabul.
SOURCE: BBC
UN leads global condemnation of Kabul bombing
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:43 HKT
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The United Nations led worldwide condemnation of the bombing of India's embassy in Afghanistan, which left 41 dead in
one of the worst attacks in the country since the fall of the Taliban.
The UN Security Council called it a "reprehensible act of terrorism" and expressed concern about the continuing threat posed by the hardline Islamic
militant Taliban, who ruled the nation from 1996 to 2001. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in Japan for the summit of the Group of Eight wealthy
nations, said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and called for those behind it to be brought to justice.
"No political agenda or grievance can justify such reprehensible means," Ban said.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing 41 people and wounding
nearly 150 others.The Indian embassy's military attache and a political counselor were killed along with two Indian guards. The body of one of the
diplomats was flung onto the roof of the embassy by the force of the blast and only found hours later.
India is one of Afghanistan's staunchest allies as the war-torn country battles an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency, and the international
community has sent in about 70,000 troops to aid the Afghan government.The United States, which has the biggest contingent of those troops, called
the attack a "needless act of violence" and said it stood with the people of both Afghanistan and India against their "common enemy" of extremism.
"Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims," US national security spokesman Gordon
Johndroe said. NATO, which altogether leads more than 50,000 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) trying to help bolster the
government, was also quick to condemn the attack.
"The loss of life and injuries to so many is a tragedy, and a clear attempt to undermine regional relations," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer said, calling on all parties to "remain calm in the face of this provocation." Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, the third
biggest contributor of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said "terrorists" were trying to prevent the establishment of an "orderly and democratic" Afghanistan.
The European Union's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "Terrorist attacks will never be a means to achieve anything."
India said those behind the bombing were "no better than the worst criminals" and insisted: "Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our
commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan."
The Afghan government said the attack had been coordinated with and helped by "regional intelligence circles" -- an apparent reference to Pakistan.
Kabul has repeatedly accused elements in Pakistan's army and its shadowy intelligence service of giving financial and other support to Taliban and
other extremists for strategic interests. Pakistan itself expressed "profound condolences" over the attack.
"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as this menace negates the very essence of human values," Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi said.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Now it's war against India in Afghanistan
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - The suicide bomber who crashed an explosive-laden car into the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday not only killed
41 people and injured more than 140, he sent a powerful message to Delhi that its significant presence and growing influence in Afghanistan through
its reconstruction projects are now in the firing line.
Among the dead were four Indians, including Defense Attache Brigadier R D Mehta, diplomat Venkateswara Rao and two guards at the embassy, who
were personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police - a paramilitary outfit. The attack is said to be among the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the
Taliban in 2001.
The Indian Embassy stands near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in
a busy part of Kabul. Intelligence sources had apparently warned of an attack on the mission this week and security had been upgraded. Yet the suicide
bomber and his explosive-filled vehicle were able to reach the gates unhindered.
The attack comes within the context of spiraling violence in the country, including the capital. More US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops were
killed in Afghanistan in June than in any other month since military operations began in 2001. Forty-five soldiers, including 27 American, 13 British, two
Canadian, one Polish, one Romanian and one Hungarian, were killed during the month. Coalition fatalities in June in Afghanistan, for the first time,
exceeded coalition fatalities in Iraq.
In April 27, militants opened fire on President Hamid Karzai at an annual military parade in Kabul, killing a legislator and two other Afghans. Last month,
in a brazen attack, the Taliban stormed a jail in Kandahar, freeing hundreds of prisoners.
The Taliban issued a statement denying responsibility for Monday's attack. But few in India or Afghanistan are convinced. The Taliban generally claim
responsibility for attacks against international or Afghan troops and deny their hand in attacks in which victims are mainly Afghan civilians. Most of the
victims of Monday's blast were Afghan civilians; many had lined up for visas to travel to India.
Indian experts say that the needle of suspicion points to the Taliban and its backers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence
agency. This is the view in Kabul as well. While Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said the "attack was carried out in coordination and consultation with an
active intelligence service in the region" - alluding to the ISI - Karzai said the bombing was the work of the "enemies of Afghanistan-India friendship", an
implicit reference to Pakistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was quick to deny the allegations, saying that Pakistan "needed a stable Afghanistan".
India and Afghanistan enjoy a close relationship nowadays, a matter that irks their common neighbor and traditional foe, Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have vied for influence in Afghanistan for decades. In the 1990s, with the Pakistan-backed Taliban in power, Islamabad's influence
peaked. Then in a reversal of fortune, India, which backed the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the years the Taliban were in power, saw its
fortunes improve in Kabul, even as Islamabad's influence touched a nadir.
With its old friends in the Northern Alliance in power and an India-educated Karzai at the helm, India's influence has grown significantly in recent years.
It has pledged about US$750 million to Afghanistan's reconstruction since 2002 and is today the fifth-largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan after the
United States, Britain, Japan and Germany. This places India among the big players in the country.
India is involved in an array of projects, ranging from providing food to children to improving infrastructure. It is constructing the 218-kilometer Zaranj-
Delaram road, the Afghan parliament and a power transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul and a substation in Kabul. It is repairing and
reconstructing the Salma Dam in the western province of Herat at a cost of $109.3 million and building telephone exchanges linking 11 provinces to
Kabul. It has supplied hundreds of buses and mini-buses. India is training bureaucrats and is providing over 3,000 Afghans with skills to earn a
livelihood in carpentry, plumbing and masonry.
Hundreds of Afghans have been given scholarships to study in India. India is providing food assistance in the form of high-protein biscuits to 1.4 million
school children daily.
"India's reconstruction strategy was designed to win over every sector of Afghan society, give India a high profile with Afghans, gain the maximum
political advantage and, of course, undercut Pakistani influence," the BBC quoted analyst Ahmed Rashid as saying,
India's role in road construction is improving its access to Afghanistan and beyond to Central Asia. The Zaranj-Delaram project, for instance, will run
from the Iranian border to Delaram, which lies on Afghanistan's Garland Highway. The Garland Highway connects several of the country's key cities.
India can offload shiploads of goods at Iran's Chabahar port and then send the consignments overland through the Zaranj-Delaram highway and the
Garland Highway to cities across Afghanistan.
Approximately 3,000-4,000 Indian nationals are working on reconstruction projects across Afghanistan.
Pakistan, which has denied India overland access to Afghanistan, is annoyed that the road construction will provide India with a land route to
Afghanistan. India believes that the ISI has used the Taliban to strike at Indian activity in Afghanistan. India's road projects - Zaranj-Delaram in particular
- have come under repeated Taliban fire, the most recent being a suicide attack in April that left seven people, including four Indians, dead.
India's engagement in Afghanistan has helped it exert its soft power in Afghanistan. It is seen as a country that is working at changing the daily lives of
Afghans, committed to capacity-building of Afghans rather than engaged in winning contracts for Indian business. India is seen as contributing to the
building of democracy in Afghanistan.
Then there is the popularity of Bollywood films and Indian television soaps in Afghanistan, which have won India many hearts in this country - and the
Taliban's ire.
Pakistan has done its utmost to restrict Indian influence. It put its foot down on allowing Indian troops into the country, but contrary to Islamabad's
expectations, this might have worked in India's favor.
India's engagement in Afghanistan has not been tainted by military operations gone awry. Unlike other powers in Afghanistan, whose reconstruction
work has been sullied by indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians, India is seen as working for the Afghan people.
So great is Pakistan's concern of India's presence in Afghanistan that it raised strong objections to India setting up consulates in Kandahar and
Jalalabad. It has accused India of using these consulates, which border Pakistan, to support "terrorist activities" inside Pakistan. The Indian consulate
at Jalalabad has been a target of at least a couple of grenade attacks, the most recent last December.
Monday's attack was the first time the Indian Embassy has been targeted since the fall of the Taliban. But the embassy building was in the crosshairs
of the Taliban even in the 1990s. The building was a "favorite target of the Taliban" between 1996 and 2001, when it was in power.
"So intense were the rocket attacks on the embassy at a time when the Taliban were inching closer to Kabul waging bloody fights against the Northern
Alliance forces led by legendary leader [Ahmad Shah] Massoud that [Indian] officials had decided to construct a heavily fortified bunker right inside the
embassy premises. So specific was the targeting of the Indian Embassy that the officials used to leave their cars and other vehicles parked inside the
Indonesian Embassy, which is next to the Indian Embassy, to keep them safe from the Taliban rockets," reports the Times of India.
The embassy was closed on September 26, 1996 - a few hours before the Taliban entered Kabul, to be reopened on December 22, 2001 - the day
Karzai was sworn in as president.
Over the past few years, the ISI and its surrogates in the Taliban have sought to cut India's influence through intimidation and attacks on Indian
engineers and construction workers. Now with the attack on the embassy, they have signaled that they are stepping up their battle against India. It
marks a major escalation in terrorist attacks not only against India's presence in Afghanistan but against New Delhi's Afghan policy.
India has reiterated that the attacks will not weaken its mission to help in Afghanistan's reconstruction. In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs
commented, "Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan."
And already there are calls in India for troops to be sent to Afghanistan. An editorial in the influential English daily, India Express, says, "After the Kabul
bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that it has avoided debating so far. New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic
and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan, while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military presence there. For too long, New Delhi has deferred to
Pakistani and American sensitivities about raising India's strategic profile in Afghanistan."
A military presence in Afghanistan might increase India's profile and add to its stature as a growing power in the region. But it will end up being
bracketed with the Americans in Afghanistan, an image it would do well to avoid. It would work against the country's long-term interests in the region,
jeopardizing the enormous goodwill it has earned to date.
Troops in Afghanistan would push India into the Afghan quagmire. This might be what the ISI was gunning for when they attacked the Indian embassy
on Monday.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Punjabi-speaking Shia lawyer gunned down in Quetta
* Govt vehicle, tyres burnt to protest third killing in 12 hours
* Lawyers term Ghulam Mustafa’s killing a ‘cowardly act of terrorism’
By Malik Siraj Akbar
July 8, 2008
QUETTA: Unidentified motorcyclists gunned down Punjabi-speaking lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Qureshi on Jan Muhammad Road in the provincial capital
on Monday.
Amanullah Baloch, newly elected president of the Balochistan Bar Association (BBA), said the lawyers in Quetta would observe three days of mourning
to protest the killing of a fellow lawyer.
“Mustafa was a Punjabi as well as a member of the Shia community. Thus, it is premature to say who could have killed him, but we hope that the
government will take the culprits to task,” Baloch told Daily Times.
The BBA announced three days of mourning to protest the killing of Qureshi.
It is the third murder in Quetta within twelve hours.
Earlier on Sunday night, unidentified persons gunned down a school principal, also named Ghulam Mustafa, in Irrigation Colony, in what was
apparently a target killing, while a boy, 17, was gunned down in Satellite Town by unidentified persons.
In a third incident, labourer Mohammad Sadiq was killed on Kasi Road when unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire. Qureshi’s murder sparked
massive protests in the city, with a government vehicle also being set on fire.
Protest: Following the news of Mustafa’s murder, dozens of lawyers staged a sit-in in front of the Governor’s House, demanding the arrest of the culprits.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani inquired about the incident from the deceased’s heirs. The relatives of Mustafa and annoyed citizens
also protested against the killing of the lawyer in front of Science College, where they burnt tyres and set fire to a government vehicle. They kept the road
blocked for several hours.
Condemned: The lawyers’ community in Balochistan strongly condemned the killing of Mustafa and termed it a “cowardly act of terrorism”.
Baz Muhammad Kakar, former president of the BBA, said: “This is 100 percent a target killing. We are all shocked over the incident, as the slain lawyer
was a very active and committed member of the lawyer’s community.” Kakar said senior lawyers would meet today (Tuesday) to decide a future course
of action.
No group has accepted responsibility for the lawyer’s killing.
Sources in the government told Daily Times that the provincial government was seriously thinking of recalling the Frontier Corps (FC) to the city for the
maintenance of law and order, which has worsened since the induction of the Pakistan People’s Party-led provincial government. “Though the FC will
not establish checkposts, it will be patrolling major parts of the city,” informed a source adding that it was not confirmed as to when the FC would be
deployed in the city.
SOURCE: Daily Times
Comments:
This is another act of ISI agents to create the atmosphere of fear, to incite non-Baloch locals against the Baloch people and to have a pretext to develop
more troops in Balochistan, arrest more BSO members and other Baloch Nationalist political activists . These tactic has been used again and again by
ISI. The las week's Motor Bike blast in Quetta was one of such act in series by ISI agents.
Senate body for making Gwadar Port efficient
July 8, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Monday exhorted the federal and provincial authorities to redouble their efforts
to ensure that the Gwadar Port is made operationally efficient at the earliest, as it would bring tremendous benefits to the country. This observation was
made by the Chairperson of the Committee Senator Gulshan Saeed while reviewing the ongoing projects of National Highway Authority (NHA), WAPDA,
CAA, Pakistan Railways, and the plans being envisaged by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping to make the Gwadar Port fully operational.
The chairperson and members of the committee expressed the view that the development of Gwadar Port was very slow and that no significant
progress seems to have been made so far. The members of the committee were of the view that if we are not doing dredging, the port will not be
considered operational.
Secretary Ministry of Ports and Shipping informed the committee that the port has been completed and operational. He informed the committee that in
order to give a boost to the operational activities at the Gwadar Port, it has been decided in the last ECC meeting that all wheat imported for Balochistan
would be routed thorough Gwadar.
He told the Committee that transshipment, transit trade and capital trade were the prerequisites for a port to be functional. He said that the port has
been leased out to Port of Singapore and they are trying to bring business for the port. It was told that the master plan of Gwadar Port has not been
finalised so far. The representatives of QESCO informed the committee that electricity was available at the port and that it was capable of meeting future
requirements of the port too. Regarding the provision of sweet drinking water, the committee was told that a desalination plant of 100,000 gallon per
day capacity has been installed by the Chinese. Final payment has also been made to them and hopefully, the plant would be operational in two
months’ time.
It was suggested that the efforts be made to get water from nearby dams like Shadi Kol and Basole. The committee during a briefing by Pakistan
Railways was told that Pakistan Railways in consultation with the Government of Balochistan finalised the route between Gwadar and Mastung, and
that the survey of the 900km area has been completed.
The representatives of the PR informed the committee that an amount of Rs450m was deposited with Board of Revenue Quetta against their demand
of Rs465 million as the cost of land to be acquired in Gwadar city area. Later EDO revenue/Collector of Gwadar arbitrarily revised the cost to Rs924m.
The committee was informed that GDA wants that underground electricity supply should be carried out instead of overhead supply. This would increase
the cost of the project manifold. Members of the committee were of the view that the matter should be taken up at the appropriate level and get resolved
in the next ECC meeting.
The Members of the committee while having a briefing by the National Highway Authority (NHA) were unanimous on the view that work on national
highways providing connectivity to Gwadar Port in Balochistan was too slow and needs to be geared up. It was pointed out that targets set forth by the
NHA were too difficult to meet as one of the major contractors was not performing and giving due results. SOURCE: The Times
Government to acquire more land for Gwadar port
* Senate body concerned over slow pace of work
* Questions land allotment to housing societies despite cabinet’s decision to halt such allotments
* Told that port will be connected to Iran via road network by December
By Irfan Ghauri
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The federal government needs more land to construct facilities for the Gwadar port project, Senate Standing Committee on Ports and
Shipping Chairman Senator Gulshan Saeed said on Monday.
Presiding over a meeting of the committee, Gulshan said the government would negotiate with the Balochistan government and private landowners of
the area to acquire land.
The committee expressed its concerns over the slow pace of work on the Gwadar port project and the under-construction highways to connect various
cities to the port.
She said the committee stressed the government to make the port operational to an extent it could be used as transit port for large ships.
She said Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Qamar Zaman Kaira had told the committee that the government was taking steps to make the port
operational by the end of this year and that the next meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee was being convened at Gwadar to make “on-
spot” decisions to resolve all outstanding issues.
She said the minister would also discuss the issues raised in the committee with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in a meeting.
Housing societies: The committee also expressed concerns over the allotment of land to housing societies despite the federal cabinet’s decision that
land would not be given to any other party because a sizeable land was required for the port.
It was pointed out in the meeting the targets set forth by the National Highway Authority (NHA) were difficult to meet as one of major contractors was not
performing well. Committee members suggested the contractor should be blacklisted and a penalty should be imposed on him, otherwise it would
give an impression that the NHA was protecting the defaulting contractor.
The committee members said the NHA should expedite and improve the quality of work on various roads, especially the Sehwan Sharif-Rato Dero
Road.
Iran: The committee was told that the port would be connected to Iran by December 2008. The Ministry of Ports and Shipping secretary informed the
committee that the last ECC meeting had decided that all imported wheat would be routed through Gwadar port to give a boost to operational activities
at the port.
A Pakistan Railways (PR) representative told the committee that the PR, in consultation with the Balochistan government, had finalised the route
between Gwadar and Mastung, besides completing the survey of the 900-kilometre area.
The PR told the committee that Rs 450 million had been deposited with the Quetta Board of Revenue against the demand of Rs 465 million as the
price of land to be acquired in the Gwadar city.
The committee was informed that the Gwadar Development Authority wanted an underground electricity supply system instead of an overhead system,
which would increase the project cost manifold.
The committee members said the matter should be resolved in the next ECC meeting.
Concerning the provision of potable water, the committee was told that a Chinese firm had installed a desalination plant with a capacity of 100,000
gallons per day. The firm had been given the final payment and the plant would be operational within two months, the committee was told.
The committee also suggested efforts be made to get water from nearby dams such as Shadi Kol and Basole.
SOURCE: The Times
Govt withdraws all perks to ‘renegade’ Bugti commanders
Monday, July 07, 2008
QUETTA: The government has announced a withdrawal of all perks and privileges – including the use of state vehicles and security – enjoyed by
‘renegade’ commanders formerly associated with late Nawab Akbar Bugti, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
According to the sources, the announcement was made following a decision by these commanders to draw back support for the government, which
they had extended in return for the government’s unconditional support for Nawabzada Brahmadagh Bugti, the guerrilla commander and grandson of
late Nawab Bugti. While the commanders reviewed their support for the government in the wake of an unrelenting cycle of target killings of ‘traitor
Balochs’ by separatist Baloch groups, the government, on its part, had to take the decision to coerce the former to continue their support for the
government in the sensitive area of Dera Bugti.
The previous government had, during a military operation, used incentives to lure Nawab Bugti’s loyalists to ditch their tribal elder and instead support
the government to ensure a smooth recapture of Dera Bugti by security forces. According to reliable sources, most of these commanders are now
interested in joining Brahmadagh’s newly formed Baloch Republican Party (BRP). A source close to the BRP said however that Brahmadagh was not
interested in rehabilitating these renegade commanders.
“During Nawab Bugti’s life, the commanders were enjoying various facilities. They were given vehicles and free fuel, paid salaries from the PPL
[Pakistan Petroleum Limited] and other gas companies. They still had the guts to desert the benevolent Nawab,” said the source. The lives of these
commanders is believed to be at serious risk with the upsurge in resistance in Dera Bugti. malik siraj akbar
SOURCE: Daily Times
July8, 2008
The UN has strongly condemned the bomb attack on the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which killed 41 people and injured 141.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday's attack could not be justified by any "political agenda or grievance". Five embassy staff - India's
defence attache, another diplomat, two security guards and an Afghan - were killed.
No-one has admitted being behind the attack, the deadliest in Kabul since the overthrow of the Taleban in 2001. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
who is in Japan for the G8 summit, said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms". "No political agenda or grievance can justify such
reprehensible means," Mr Ban said. The UN Security Council described the attack as "reprehensible act of terrorism" .
Close allies
The Afghan interior ministry has said it believed the attack was carried out "in co-ordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the
region". It did not specify which intelligence service it suspected of involvement. But in the past, Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being
behind a number of attacks on its soil. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denied his country was involved in the blast.
"Why should Pakistan destabilise Afghanistan? It is in our interest, a stable Afghanistan. We want stability in the region," he told reporters on the
sidelines of a meeting in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. The bodies of the four Indians killed in the attack were flown to the Indian capital, Delhi, late
on Monday by a special Indian air force plane.
India is one of Afghanistan's closest allies and leading donors - it has pledged to spend $750m on helping rebuild the country's shattered
infrastructure. The bombing dominated the front pages of Indian newspapers on Tuesday. "Terror strikes India in Kabul," headlined the Indian Express
newspaper. "After the Kabul bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that is has avoided debating so far," the newspaper wrote.
"New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military
presence there." Monday's attack happened when a suicide bomber rammed a car full of explosives into the gates of the Indian embassy.
Afghanistan has seen a sharp increase in violence, particularly in the south and east - and Taleban militants recently vowed to step up their attacks in
the capital. But the latest blast - in what was supposed to be a secure area of Kabul - will greatly concern Afghan government officials, says the BBC's
Martin Patience in Kabul.
SOURCE: BBC
UN leads global condemnation of Kabul bombing
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:43 HKT
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The United Nations led worldwide condemnation of the bombing of India's embassy in Afghanistan, which left 41 dead in
one of the worst attacks in the country since the fall of the Taliban.
The UN Security Council called it a "reprehensible act of terrorism" and expressed concern about the continuing threat posed by the hardline Islamic
militant Taliban, who ruled the nation from 1996 to 2001. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in Japan for the summit of the Group of Eight wealthy
nations, said he condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and called for those behind it to be brought to justice.
"No political agenda or grievance can justify such reprehensible means," Ban said.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing 41 people and wounding
nearly 150 others.The Indian embassy's military attache and a political counselor were killed along with two Indian guards. The body of one of the
diplomats was flung onto the roof of the embassy by the force of the blast and only found hours later.
India is one of Afghanistan's staunchest allies as the war-torn country battles an increasingly bloody Taliban insurgency, and the international
community has sent in about 70,000 troops to aid the Afghan government.The United States, which has the biggest contingent of those troops, called
the attack a "needless act of violence" and said it stood with the people of both Afghanistan and India against their "common enemy" of extremism.
"Extremists continue to show their disregard for all human life and their willingness to kill fellow Muslims," US national security spokesman Gordon
Johndroe said. NATO, which altogether leads more than 50,000 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) trying to help bolster the
government, was also quick to condemn the attack.
"The loss of life and injuries to so many is a tragedy, and a clear attempt to undermine regional relations," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer said, calling on all parties to "remain calm in the face of this provocation." Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, the third
biggest contributor of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said "terrorists" were trying to prevent the establishment of an "orderly and democratic" Afghanistan.
The European Union's External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "Terrorist attacks will never be a means to achieve anything."
India said those behind the bombing were "no better than the worst criminals" and insisted: "Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our
commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan."
The Afghan government said the attack had been coordinated with and helped by "regional intelligence circles" -- an apparent reference to Pakistan.
Kabul has repeatedly accused elements in Pakistan's army and its shadowy intelligence service of giving financial and other support to Taliban and
other extremists for strategic interests. Pakistan itself expressed "profound condolences" over the attack.
"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as this menace negates the very essence of human values," Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi said.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Now it's war against India in Afghanistan
By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - The suicide bomber who crashed an explosive-laden car into the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday not only killed
41 people and injured more than 140, he sent a powerful message to Delhi that its significant presence and growing influence in Afghanistan through
its reconstruction projects are now in the firing line.
Among the dead were four Indians, including Defense Attache Brigadier R D Mehta, diplomat Venkateswara Rao and two guards at the embassy, who
were personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police - a paramilitary outfit. The attack is said to be among the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the
Taliban in 2001.
The Indian Embassy stands near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in
a busy part of Kabul. Intelligence sources had apparently warned of an attack on the mission this week and security had been upgraded. Yet the suicide
bomber and his explosive-filled vehicle were able to reach the gates unhindered.
The attack comes within the context of spiraling violence in the country, including the capital. More US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops were
killed in Afghanistan in June than in any other month since military operations began in 2001. Forty-five soldiers, including 27 American, 13 British, two
Canadian, one Polish, one Romanian and one Hungarian, were killed during the month. Coalition fatalities in June in Afghanistan, for the first time,
exceeded coalition fatalities in Iraq.
In April 27, militants opened fire on President Hamid Karzai at an annual military parade in Kabul, killing a legislator and two other Afghans. Last month,
in a brazen attack, the Taliban stormed a jail in Kandahar, freeing hundreds of prisoners.
The Taliban issued a statement denying responsibility for Monday's attack. But few in India or Afghanistan are convinced. The Taliban generally claim
responsibility for attacks against international or Afghan troops and deny their hand in attacks in which victims are mainly Afghan civilians. Most of the
victims of Monday's blast were Afghan civilians; many had lined up for visas to travel to India.
Indian experts say that the needle of suspicion points to the Taliban and its backers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence
agency. This is the view in Kabul as well. While Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said the "attack was carried out in coordination and consultation with an
active intelligence service in the region" - alluding to the ISI - Karzai said the bombing was the work of the "enemies of Afghanistan-India friendship", an
implicit reference to Pakistan.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was quick to deny the allegations, saying that Pakistan "needed a stable Afghanistan".
India and Afghanistan enjoy a close relationship nowadays, a matter that irks their common neighbor and traditional foe, Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have vied for influence in Afghanistan for decades. In the 1990s, with the Pakistan-backed Taliban in power, Islamabad's influence
peaked. Then in a reversal of fortune, India, which backed the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the years the Taliban were in power, saw its
fortunes improve in Kabul, even as Islamabad's influence touched a nadir.
With its old friends in the Northern Alliance in power and an India-educated Karzai at the helm, India's influence has grown significantly in recent years.
It has pledged about US$750 million to Afghanistan's reconstruction since 2002 and is today the fifth-largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan after the
United States, Britain, Japan and Germany. This places India among the big players in the country.
India is involved in an array of projects, ranging from providing food to children to improving infrastructure. It is constructing the 218-kilometer Zaranj-
Delaram road, the Afghan parliament and a power transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul and a substation in Kabul. It is repairing and
reconstructing the Salma Dam in the western province of Herat at a cost of $109.3 million and building telephone exchanges linking 11 provinces to
Kabul. It has supplied hundreds of buses and mini-buses. India is training bureaucrats and is providing over 3,000 Afghans with skills to earn a
livelihood in carpentry, plumbing and masonry.
Hundreds of Afghans have been given scholarships to study in India. India is providing food assistance in the form of high-protein biscuits to 1.4 million
school children daily.
"India's reconstruction strategy was designed to win over every sector of Afghan society, give India a high profile with Afghans, gain the maximum
political advantage and, of course, undercut Pakistani influence," the BBC quoted analyst Ahmed Rashid as saying,
India's role in road construction is improving its access to Afghanistan and beyond to Central Asia. The Zaranj-Delaram project, for instance, will run
from the Iranian border to Delaram, which lies on Afghanistan's Garland Highway. The Garland Highway connects several of the country's key cities.
India can offload shiploads of goods at Iran's Chabahar port and then send the consignments overland through the Zaranj-Delaram highway and the
Garland Highway to cities across Afghanistan.
Approximately 3,000-4,000 Indian nationals are working on reconstruction projects across Afghanistan.
Pakistan, which has denied India overland access to Afghanistan, is annoyed that the road construction will provide India with a land route to
Afghanistan. India believes that the ISI has used the Taliban to strike at Indian activity in Afghanistan. India's road projects - Zaranj-Delaram in particular
- have come under repeated Taliban fire, the most recent being a suicide attack in April that left seven people, including four Indians, dead.
India's engagement in Afghanistan has helped it exert its soft power in Afghanistan. It is seen as a country that is working at changing the daily lives of
Afghans, committed to capacity-building of Afghans rather than engaged in winning contracts for Indian business. India is seen as contributing to the
building of democracy in Afghanistan.
Then there is the popularity of Bollywood films and Indian television soaps in Afghanistan, which have won India many hearts in this country - and the
Taliban's ire.
Pakistan has done its utmost to restrict Indian influence. It put its foot down on allowing Indian troops into the country, but contrary to Islamabad's
expectations, this might have worked in India's favor.
India's engagement in Afghanistan has not been tainted by military operations gone awry. Unlike other powers in Afghanistan, whose reconstruction
work has been sullied by indiscriminate bombing and killing of civilians, India is seen as working for the Afghan people.
So great is Pakistan's concern of India's presence in Afghanistan that it raised strong objections to India setting up consulates in Kandahar and
Jalalabad. It has accused India of using these consulates, which border Pakistan, to support "terrorist activities" inside Pakistan. The Indian consulate
at Jalalabad has been a target of at least a couple of grenade attacks, the most recent last December.
Monday's attack was the first time the Indian Embassy has been targeted since the fall of the Taliban. But the embassy building was in the crosshairs
of the Taliban even in the 1990s. The building was a "favorite target of the Taliban" between 1996 and 2001, when it was in power.
"So intense were the rocket attacks on the embassy at a time when the Taliban were inching closer to Kabul waging bloody fights against the Northern
Alliance forces led by legendary leader [Ahmad Shah] Massoud that [Indian] officials had decided to construct a heavily fortified bunker right inside the
embassy premises. So specific was the targeting of the Indian Embassy that the officials used to leave their cars and other vehicles parked inside the
Indonesian Embassy, which is next to the Indian Embassy, to keep them safe from the Taliban rockets," reports the Times of India.
The embassy was closed on September 26, 1996 - a few hours before the Taliban entered Kabul, to be reopened on December 22, 2001 - the day
Karzai was sworn in as president.
Over the past few years, the ISI and its surrogates in the Taliban have sought to cut India's influence through intimidation and attacks on Indian
engineers and construction workers. Now with the attack on the embassy, they have signaled that they are stepping up their battle against India. It
marks a major escalation in terrorist attacks not only against India's presence in Afghanistan but against New Delhi's Afghan policy.
India has reiterated that the attacks will not weaken its mission to help in Afghanistan's reconstruction. In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs
commented, "Such acts of terror will not deter us from fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan."
And already there are calls in India for troops to be sent to Afghanistan. An editorial in the influential English daily, India Express, says, "After the Kabul
bombing, India must come to terms with an important question that it has avoided debating so far. New Delhi cannot continue to expand its economic
and diplomatic activity in Afghanistan, while avoiding a commensurate increase in its military presence there. For too long, New Delhi has deferred to
Pakistani and American sensitivities about raising India's strategic profile in Afghanistan."
A military presence in Afghanistan might increase India's profile and add to its stature as a growing power in the region. But it will end up being
bracketed with the Americans in Afghanistan, an image it would do well to avoid. It would work against the country's long-term interests in the region,
jeopardizing the enormous goodwill it has earned to date.
Troops in Afghanistan would push India into the Afghan quagmire. This might be what the ISI was gunning for when they attacked the Indian embassy
on Monday.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
SOURCE: Asia Times
Punjabi-speaking Shia lawyer gunned down in Quetta
* Govt vehicle, tyres burnt to protest third killing in 12 hours
* Lawyers term Ghulam Mustafa’s killing a ‘cowardly act of terrorism’
By Malik Siraj Akbar
July 8, 2008
QUETTA: Unidentified motorcyclists gunned down Punjabi-speaking lawyer Ghulam Mustafa Qureshi on Jan Muhammad Road in the provincial capital
on Monday.
Amanullah Baloch, newly elected president of the Balochistan Bar Association (BBA), said the lawyers in Quetta would observe three days of mourning
to protest the killing of a fellow lawyer.
“Mustafa was a Punjabi as well as a member of the Shia community. Thus, it is premature to say who could have killed him, but we hope that the
government will take the culprits to task,” Baloch told Daily Times.
The BBA announced three days of mourning to protest the killing of Qureshi.
It is the third murder in Quetta within twelve hours.
Earlier on Sunday night, unidentified persons gunned down a school principal, also named Ghulam Mustafa, in Irrigation Colony, in what was
apparently a target killing, while a boy, 17, was gunned down in Satellite Town by unidentified persons.
In a third incident, labourer Mohammad Sadiq was killed on Kasi Road when unidentified men opened indiscriminate fire. Qureshi’s murder sparked
massive protests in the city, with a government vehicle also being set on fire.
Protest: Following the news of Mustafa’s murder, dozens of lawyers staged a sit-in in front of the Governor’s House, demanding the arrest of the culprits.
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani inquired about the incident from the deceased’s heirs. The relatives of Mustafa and annoyed citizens
also protested against the killing of the lawyer in front of Science College, where they burnt tyres and set fire to a government vehicle. They kept the road
blocked for several hours.
Condemned: The lawyers’ community in Balochistan strongly condemned the killing of Mustafa and termed it a “cowardly act of terrorism”.
Baz Muhammad Kakar, former president of the BBA, said: “This is 100 percent a target killing. We are all shocked over the incident, as the slain lawyer
was a very active and committed member of the lawyer’s community.” Kakar said senior lawyers would meet today (Tuesday) to decide a future course
of action.
No group has accepted responsibility for the lawyer’s killing.
Sources in the government told Daily Times that the provincial government was seriously thinking of recalling the Frontier Corps (FC) to the city for the
maintenance of law and order, which has worsened since the induction of the Pakistan People’s Party-led provincial government. “Though the FC will
not establish checkposts, it will be patrolling major parts of the city,” informed a source adding that it was not confirmed as to when the FC would be
deployed in the city.
SOURCE: Daily Times
Comments:
This is another act of ISI agents to create the atmosphere of fear, to incite non-Baloch locals against the Baloch people and to have a pretext to develop
more troops in Balochistan, arrest more BSO members and other Baloch Nationalist political activists . These tactic has been used again and again by
ISI. The las week's Motor Bike blast in Quetta was one of such act in series by ISI agents.
Senate body for making Gwadar Port efficient
July 8, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Monday exhorted the federal and provincial authorities to redouble their efforts
to ensure that the Gwadar Port is made operationally efficient at the earliest, as it would bring tremendous benefits to the country. This observation was
made by the Chairperson of the Committee Senator Gulshan Saeed while reviewing the ongoing projects of National Highway Authority (NHA), WAPDA,
CAA, Pakistan Railways, and the plans being envisaged by the Ministry of Ports and Shipping to make the Gwadar Port fully operational.
The chairperson and members of the committee expressed the view that the development of Gwadar Port was very slow and that no significant
progress seems to have been made so far. The members of the committee were of the view that if we are not doing dredging, the port will not be
considered operational.
Secretary Ministry of Ports and Shipping informed the committee that the port has been completed and operational. He informed the committee that in
order to give a boost to the operational activities at the Gwadar Port, it has been decided in the last ECC meeting that all wheat imported for Balochistan
would be routed thorough Gwadar.
He told the Committee that transshipment, transit trade and capital trade were the prerequisites for a port to be functional. He said that the port has
been leased out to Port of Singapore and they are trying to bring business for the port. It was told that the master plan of Gwadar Port has not been
finalised so far. The representatives of QESCO informed the committee that electricity was available at the port and that it was capable of meeting future
requirements of the port too. Regarding the provision of sweet drinking water, the committee was told that a desalination plant of 100,000 gallon per
day capacity has been installed by the Chinese. Final payment has also been made to them and hopefully, the plant would be operational in two
months’ time.
It was suggested that the efforts be made to get water from nearby dams like Shadi Kol and Basole. The committee during a briefing by Pakistan
Railways was told that Pakistan Railways in consultation with the Government of Balochistan finalised the route between Gwadar and Mastung, and
that the survey of the 900km area has been completed.
The representatives of the PR informed the committee that an amount of Rs450m was deposited with Board of Revenue Quetta against their demand
of Rs465 million as the cost of land to be acquired in Gwadar city area. Later EDO revenue/Collector of Gwadar arbitrarily revised the cost to Rs924m.
The committee was informed that GDA wants that underground electricity supply should be carried out instead of overhead supply. This would increase
the cost of the project manifold. Members of the committee were of the view that the matter should be taken up at the appropriate level and get resolved
in the next ECC meeting.
The Members of the committee while having a briefing by the National Highway Authority (NHA) were unanimous on the view that work on national
highways providing connectivity to Gwadar Port in Balochistan was too slow and needs to be geared up. It was pointed out that targets set forth by the
NHA were too difficult to meet as one of the major contractors was not performing and giving due results. SOURCE: The Times
Government to acquire more land for Gwadar port
* Senate body concerned over slow pace of work
* Questions land allotment to housing societies despite cabinet’s decision to halt such allotments
* Told that port will be connected to Iran via road network by December
By Irfan Ghauri
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
ISLAMABAD: The federal government needs more land to construct facilities for the Gwadar port project, Senate Standing Committee on Ports and
Shipping Chairman Senator Gulshan Saeed said on Monday.
Presiding over a meeting of the committee, Gulshan said the government would negotiate with the Balochistan government and private landowners of
the area to acquire land.
The committee expressed its concerns over the slow pace of work on the Gwadar port project and the under-construction highways to connect various
cities to the port.
She said the committee stressed the government to make the port operational to an extent it could be used as transit port for large ships.
She said Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Qamar Zaman Kaira had told the committee that the government was taking steps to make the port
operational by the end of this year and that the next meeting of the Economic Co-ordination Committee was being convened at Gwadar to make “on-
spot” decisions to resolve all outstanding issues.
She said the minister would also discuss the issues raised in the committee with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in a meeting.
Housing societies: The committee also expressed concerns over the allotment of land to housing societies despite the federal cabinet’s decision that
land would not be given to any other party because a sizeable land was required for the port.
It was pointed out in the meeting the targets set forth by the National Highway Authority (NHA) were difficult to meet as one of major contractors was not
performing well. Committee members suggested the contractor should be blacklisted and a penalty should be imposed on him, otherwise it would
give an impression that the NHA was protecting the defaulting contractor.
The committee members said the NHA should expedite and improve the quality of work on various roads, especially the Sehwan Sharif-Rato Dero
Road.
Iran: The committee was told that the port would be connected to Iran by December 2008. The Ministry of Ports and Shipping secretary informed the
committee that the last ECC meeting had decided that all imported wheat would be routed through Gwadar port to give a boost to operational activities
at the port.
A Pakistan Railways (PR) representative told the committee that the PR, in consultation with the Balochistan government, had finalised the route
between Gwadar and Mastung, besides completing the survey of the 900-kilometre area.
The PR told the committee that Rs 450 million had been deposited with the Quetta Board of Revenue against the demand of Rs 465 million as the
price of land to be acquired in the Gwadar city.
The committee was informed that the Gwadar Development Authority wanted an underground electricity supply system instead of an overhead system,
which would increase the project cost manifold.
The committee members said the matter should be resolved in the next ECC meeting.
Concerning the provision of potable water, the committee was told that a Chinese firm had installed a desalination plant with a capacity of 100,000
gallons per day. The firm had been given the final payment and the plant would be operational within two months, the committee was told.
The committee also suggested efforts be made to get water from nearby dams such as Shadi Kol and Basole.
SOURCE: The Times
Govt withdraws all perks to ‘renegade’ Bugti commanders
Monday, July 07, 2008
QUETTA: The government has announced a withdrawal of all perks and privileges – including the use of state vehicles and security – enjoyed by
‘renegade’ commanders formerly associated with late Nawab Akbar Bugti, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.
According to the sources, the announcement was made following a decision by these commanders to draw back support for the government, which
they had extended in return for the government’s unconditional support for Nawabzada Brahmadagh Bugti, the guerrilla commander and grandson of
late Nawab Bugti. While the commanders reviewed their support for the government in the wake of an unrelenting cycle of target killings of ‘traitor
Balochs’ by separatist Baloch groups, the government, on its part, had to take the decision to coerce the former to continue their support for the
government in the sensitive area of Dera Bugti.
The previous government had, during a military operation, used incentives to lure Nawab Bugti’s loyalists to ditch their tribal elder and instead support
the government to ensure a smooth recapture of Dera Bugti by security forces. According to reliable sources, most of these commanders are now
interested in joining Brahmadagh’s newly formed Baloch Republican Party (BRP). A source close to the BRP said however that Brahmadagh was not
interested in rehabilitating these renegade commanders.
“During Nawab Bugti’s life, the commanders were enjoying various facilities. They were given vehicles and free fuel, paid salaries from the PPL
[Pakistan Petroleum Limited] and other gas companies. They still had the guts to desert the benevolent Nawab,” said the source. The lives of these
commanders is believed to be at serious risk with the upsurge in resistance in Dera Bugti. malik siraj akbar
SOURCE: Daily Times