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WEEKLY
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| Kabul catastrophe |
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Wednesday, July 09, 2008
The Afghan capital, Kabul, has seen its worst terrorist outrage since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Forty-one people, including an Indian diplomat and a military attaché, were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car laden with explosives into the gate of the Indian embassy compound, as the vehicle of a political counselor was moving inside. Most of those so tragically killed were Afghans seeking visas. One hundred and fifty were also wounded in the attack.
While Pakistan has immediately condemned the blast, and expressed sympathies with those who died, the attack on the Indian embassy has obvious implications for it. Afghan president Hamid Karzai and the Afghan interior ministry have both said 'enemies' of Afghan-Indian relations were behind the attack. The interior ministry has also pointed a finger at 'intelligence agencies' active in the region, which is not really a good sign since one needs to investigate the causes of such an event before assigning blame or responsibility. The response from India has so far been more restrained, but it is hard to believe that similar suspicions are not lurking in New Delhi. Also, regrettably but as expected, a large section of the Indian media has already assumed that Pakistan is behind the attack because of its perceived support to the Taliban.
The Afghan accusations, obviously directed towards Pakistan, are disturbing. It is true that to a large extent they aim only to deflect attention from the inability of the Kabul government to tackle the issue of terror and the resurgence of the Taliban in their own country. It is after all a well-established fact that the writ of the US-backed Hamid Karzai barely extends beyond Kabul. The new attack in the city suggests it may soon be restricted only to the corridors and hallways of the presidential palace. In such a situation, it is unsurprising the government should be seeking someone to point a finger at. But the reports appearing in both the local and international media in recent weeks suggest there may well be some kind of nexus between Pakistan's intelligence network and militant outfits operating in the country. This is something we ourselves need to explore and assess. A good starting point would be to investigate the attack on the Indian embassy and other recent suicide-bombings in Kabul from our own end, share this information with Kabul and ensure Pakistan cannot be used as a base for militancy.
The bombing in Kabul brings with it the risk of damaging relations between Pakistan and its immediate neighbours to both the East and the West. This is something the country simply cannot afford. Good regional ties are after all essential to a stronger, more stable Pakistan. The fact that the suicide bombing comes at a time when headway is being made is establishing better relations with India also raises the fear that some elements may be attempting to sabotage this process. As such, Islamabad must play whatever part it can in getting to the bottom of these blasts, both so that it is in a position to respond strongly to the now instant accusations that come from Kabul and to ensure its own interests are not damaged at a time when it is attempting to build closer regional bonds, and establish a new spirit of cooperation with India.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
