Kabul attack: There is a loud message for India

The Kabul attack in which four Indians were killed was meant to send a message. The message from the Taliban (Afghan) was to India which it feels is interfering in Afghanistan.

The original plan was to storm the guest house and gun down the Indian Ambassador. The Taliban appeared to have advance information that the Indian Ambassador would be at the guest house and the plan was to eliminate him to send a strong message to India. [Indian casualties in Kabul attack, says envoy]

Taliban will get aggressive in the days to come

The Afghan Taliban under Mullah Omar has been relatively quiet all these days. However it feels it needs to assert itself more as the days ahead are tough and there is going to be a bloody turf battle. [We are one when it comes to fighting terror: Modi tells Ghani after Kabul attack]

The Taliban at the moment has decided to focus only on targeting India and with the West gradually pulling out it realizes that it should move fast to seize control. The Afghan Taliban which is completely backed by the ISI will fight Pakistan's proxy battle in Afghanistan. This Taliban has been referred to as the Good Taliban by Pakistan and the US.

The Taliban will seek the support of the Al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent and would be up against the Al-Khorasan and the Tehrik-e-Taliban. The Afghan Taliban has recently been threatened with the growth of the Khorsan and the TTP and hence feels the need to assert itself strongly in the region.

The message to India

Indian intelligence bureau officials say that the Kabul strike was nothing but a message to India. They happened to kill all the Indians in the guest house, but were actually looking for the Indian Ambassador in Kabul. [Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi condemns Kabul guesthouse attack]

They were given information that the Indian diplomat would be in the guest house and this attack does not appear to have been planned since a long time. It was a hurriedly planned operation, officials also say.

India has offered help to Afghanistan and is looking to assert its position in the region. The Indians feel that Afghan deserves peace and development. Moreover the local Afghan is particularly fond of India and hates Pakistan as it feels that the latter has ruined the country.

This inclination has resulted in a ego battle for both Pakistan and the Taliban who want to ensure that they send messages to India ensuring that the Indians stay away. Indian officials say that the Taliban will look to target more Indians and hence the alert levels have been stepped up.

Not the first time

This is not the first time that Indians have been targeted in Afghanistan. Last year the Indian consulate in Heart had been attacked. In 2013, there was a bombing attempt at Jalalabad on the Indian consulate.

In the year 2008 and the subsequent year the Kabul embassy attack killed 75 persons. These were all messages to India which has been helping the development of Afghanistan.

The Taliban has been upset about the investments made by India in Afghanistan which includes the Salma dam project. Further India has pledged 2 million dollars for the Afghan development programme.