Kabul: Seven suspected Afghan terrorists
responsible for the Indian embassy bombing and several other
attacks in Kabul have been arrested, the Afghan intelligence
agency said on Monday, pointing out their links in Pakistan.
The seven suspected militants having links to Afghan
Taliban leaders currently based in Pakistan, are responsible
for a series of attacks in Kabul, including one on the Indian
Embassy last year and on a guest house frequented by Indians.
The men arrested over the past one week received
training in Pakistan, according to the Afghan National
Security Directorate (NSD) spokesman Seyd Ansari.
During the past year the group organised about eight
bombings that together killed 37 people before their arrest,
Ansari said.
"The seven terrorists responsible for organising a dozen
suicide attacks over the past one year, including last
Tuesday`s suicide attack in Darulaman locality that left two
dozen people dead, were arrested over the past week," Ansari
told a press conference here.
Among the attacks the group had carried out, Ansari
said, was a deadly suicide and gun attack on two Kabul guest
houses packed with foreigners.
The February 26 raid resulted in the deaths of 16
people, including seven Indians, a French filmmaker and an
Italian diplomat.
"We are saying that they have been trained on the other
side of the border, so it is clear that the intelligence
service of our neighbouring country has its role in the
training and supporting of this terrorist group," he said in a
clear reference to Pakistan.
He added that the group is plotting several attacks in
Kabul, but security forces have foiled their attempts.
He said all the suspects were Afghan nationals who
receive orders from Taliban shadow governor for Kabul, Daud
Sorkha, and another suspect Taj Mohammad, who are living in
Pakistan.
"All members of this band have been arrested except Daud
Sorkha and Taj Mohammad," he said.
The terrorists are responsible for a series of suicide
attacks, including attacks on Indian Embassy and in Kabul`s
diplomatic area last year, and attacks on a guest house in
February this year, Ansari was quoted as saying by Xinhua news
agency.
The 2009 suicide attack on the Indian Embassy had killed
17 people.
The group is also responsible for a suicide car bombing
attack targeting foreign troop`s convoy last Tuesday,
according to Ansari.
The incident left 20 people dead, including six NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) service
members, and 54 others injured, he said. Seventeen vehicles
were also damaged in the incident.
Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the
attack last Tuesday.
Ansari said the group was linked to Afghan Taliban with
bases in Pakistan`s semi-autonomous tribal belt that borders
Afghanistan.
The Taliban have waged their insurgency since the late
2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan threw them out of power.
PTI
