General Kapoor calls blast on Indian embassy in Kabul a well-planned attack

New Delhi, July 10 : Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor on Thursday said that the blast on Indian consulate in Afghanistan that killed 58 people including four Indians and injured around 140 people was pre-meditated and well-planned.

On being asked Afghanistan's doubt about Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) involvement in the blast on the sidelines of an army awards function here today, General Kapoor said that some element was definitely involved but denied to say anything else.

"The fact is as the circumstances stand, we feel it is a well-planned, pre-meditated, pre-planned attack. So obviously there has to be elements who would be involved. I would not like to deny or say anything else. But you should be able to make out that who could be inimical to our interest and to the Indian embassy in Kabul," General Kapoor told reporters.

Though Pakistan has denied allegation made by Kabul, Afghan analysts argue Pakistan is loath to see the emergence of a strong Afghanistan that is friendly to India and is secretly backing the Taliban as a "strategic asset", enabling Pakistani forces to concentrate on defending its border with India.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind a number of attacks in recent weeks and Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month threatened to send troops across the border to attack militants there if Pakistan does not take action.

Suspected Taliban suicide car bomb hit the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday killing 58 people and wounding 139, in attack Afghan authorities said was coordinated with foreign agents in the region, a likely reference to Pakistan.

A line of people waiting for visas and shoppers at a nearby market were the main victims of the blast-- the deadliest in Kabul since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001.

A Taliban spokesman denied responsibility for the attack, though another militant spokesman said earlier the hardline Islamist militia had been behind the bombing. The Taliban often disown attacks that kill large numbers of civilians.

ANI