KABUL: A suicide car bomb exploded near the Indian Embassy in central Kabul early June 7, killing 44 people and wounding 141 others on June 7. The massive bomb rattled much of Kabul and exploded near a row of metal turnstiles outside the embassy, where dozens of Afghan men line- up every morning to apply for visas.

The embassy sits on a busy, tree-lined street in central Kabul near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry. Indian defence attaché, Brigadier R D Mehta, Counsellor Venkateswara Rao, and three other staff members lost their life to what comes as the worst attack on an Indian mission abroad and the deadliest suicide bombing in Kabul since the US- led NATO forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. The impact of the attack was so huge that Rao's body flung over the roof and the embassy's gates were blown away. Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul H Ashiq said the bomb was placed in a Toyota Corolla car driven by the suicide bomber.

Several nearby shops were damaged in the blast, smoldering ruins covered the street and gates of the nearby Indonesian embassy were broken. Blazing rubble covered the street where the wounded lay wailing for help amid blood, torn limbs, and a cloud of dust and smoke. "There was a loud bang. I saw cars with smashed windows, damaged shops and wounded and dead people lying scattered on the road," said Danish Karokhil, a journalist.

The Taliban have frequently attacked Indian offices and projects in the past. Delhi had been forced to close its Kabul embassy in 1996 when the Taliban seized power, but reopened it in 2001 after the regime's ouster. It's therefore no coincidence that the Indian defence attaché, Brig RD Mehta was targeted in the attack. The implication is clear:

Pakistan and ISI-backed Taliban want India out of Afghanistan. The latest security advisory by the Indian Embassy of a possible suicide strike was ironically given by Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta, who perished in the attack on the mission.

The persistence in India being a target of attack for the Taliban is mainly due to its role as the largest reconstruction donor in Afghanistan. India has regained the strategic foothold it had lost in the country when Pakistan-backed Taliban took over. Indo-Pak clash of interest also rests on India's $750 million presence in Afghanistan which is surely not music to Pakistani ears.

It's obvious that Pakistan is suspicious of the way India has invested crores to rebuild Afghanistan and pushed in thousands of engineers and workers to construct roads. It is also wary of India's string of consulates in Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the embassy shortly after the attack, ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmed Baheen said. "India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other.

Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations," Spanta told the embassy staff, according to Baheen.- Agencies Indian defence attaché, Brigadier R D Mehta, Counsellor Venkateswara Rao, and three other staff members lost their life to what comes as the worst attack on an Indian mission abroad and the deadliest suicide bombing in Kabul since the US- led NATO forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001. The impact of the attack was so huge that Rao's body flung over the roof and the embassy's gates were blown away.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Abdul H Ashiq said the bomb was placed in a Toyota Corolla car driven by the suicide bomber. Several nearby shops were damaged in the blast, smoldering ruins covered the street and gates of the nearby Indonesian embassy were broken. Blazing rubble covered the street where the wounded lay wailing for help amid blood, torn limbs, and a cloud of dust and smoke. "There was a loud bang. I saw cars with smashed windows, damaged shops and wounded and dead people lying scattered on the road," said Danish Karokhil, a journalist.

The Taliban have frequently attacked Indian offices and projects in the past. Delhi had been forced to close its Kabul embassy in 1996 when the Taliban seized power, but reopened it in 2001 after the regime's ouster. It's therefore no coincidence that the Indian defence attaché, Brig RD Mehta was targeted in the attack. The implication is clear: Pakistan and ISI-backed Taliban want India out of Afghanistan. The latest security advisory by the Indian Embassy of a possible suicide strike was ironically given by Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta, who perished in the attack on the mission.

The persistence in India being a target of attack for the Taliban is mainly due to its role as the largest reconstruction donor in Afghanistan. India has regained the strategic foothold it had lost in the country when Pakistan-backed Taliban took over. Indo-Pak clash of interest also rests on India's $750 million presence in Afghanistan which is surely not music to Pakistani ears. It's obvious that Pakistan is suspicious of the way India has invested crores to rebuild Afghanistan and pushed in thousands of engineers and workers to construct roads. It is also wary of India's string of consulates in Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif.

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the embassy shortly after the attack, ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmed Baheen said. "India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other. Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations," Spanta told the embassy staff, according to Baheen.