US blames ISI for Kabul Indian embassy attack

Washington, Aug 1: On the basis of intercepted communication between Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and militants, the US has reportedly drawn a conclusion that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI was behind the July 7 suicide attack on Indian embassy in Kabul which claimed more than 50 lives, including four Indian staffers.

US intelligence sleuths said the communication was intercepted before the Indian embassy bombing, but the intercepts were not detailed enough to warn of any specific attack. They also said that CIA Deputy Director Stephen R Kappes had been ordered to rush to Islamabad even before the attack.

American officials said that they believe that the embassy attack was probably carried out by members of a terrorist network led by one Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose alliance with al Qaeda and its affiliates had allowed the terrorist network to rebuild in the tribal areas.

The American officials also said there was new information showing that members of the Pakistani intelligence service ISI were increasingly providing militants with details about the American campaign against them, in some cases allowing militants to avoid American missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas, reported the New York Times.

About the intercepted communication, a US State Department official privy to developments in Afghanistan, said: "It confirmed some suspicions that I think were widely held. It was sort of this 'aha' moment. There was a sense that there was finally direct proof."

According to the paper, concerns about the role played by Pakistani intelligence has not only strained relations between the US and its long time anti-terror ally Pakistan, but also has fanned tensions between Pakistan and its archrival India.

ANI