Holbrooke's comments on Kabul attack surprises India

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) The contention by US Special Envoy
on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke that Indians
were not the target of the latest Kabul attack has come as a
surprise to the Indian government here.

Sources said the comments were surprising considering the
fact that the Afghan government has clearly stated that attack
was against Indians and carried out by Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), whose sworn agenda is to target Indian
interests.
Holbrooke had told reporters in Washington Tuesday
that he did not "accept the fact that this was an attack on an
Indian facility like the (Indian) embassy. They were
foreigners, non-Indian foreigners hurt. It was a soft target.
Let's not jump to conclusions."
The sources here wondered on what basis Holbrooke made
the statement.
Seven Indians, including three Major-rank army officers,
associated with developmental projects were killed and nine
others, including four army officers, were injured in the
assault that was reminiscent of 26/11.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has termed it as an attack
on Indians.
Afghanistan's intelligence service has said that the
attack was directed against Indians and gunmen had detailed
knowledge, including names, of Indian guests at the two hotels
-- Park Residency and Noor Guest House, which were targeted in
Kabul on Friday last.

"We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that
the attack on the Indian guest house ... is not the work of
the Afghan Taliban but this attack was carried out by
Lashkar-e-Taiba network, who are dependent on the Pakistan
military," the Afghan intelligence agency's spokesman Saeed
Ansari said in an interview.
According to sources, the attackers, after detonating an
explosion, stormed the two hotels and hunted for Indians
staying there. One of the attackers, speaking in Urdu, even
was calling his targets by name, according a report in
Washington Post.
It is widely believed that LeT is a proxy for Pakistani
agencies. PTI AKK
MRD