Bomb found on Afghan bus transporting Indian workers
A bomb was found on a bus transporting 12 Indian road workers in Afghanistan, a governor said, a day after a suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 41 people.
By Agencies |
HERAT-AFGHANISTAN: A bomb was found on a bus transporting 12 Indian road workers in Afghanistan, a governor said, a day after a suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 41 people.
The workers, including engineers, had noticed a "suspicious package" on the bus yesterday as they were travelling to work in the southwestern province of Nimroz, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad said. They called the police who discovered it was a remote-controlled bomb, he said.
The driver of the bus was arrested for questioning. "The bomb could have been fixed on his bus without him knowing but all this will be made clear after the investigation is over," he said.
Azad blamed Taliban militants for the attempted attack on workers for the Indian Border Road Organisation which is working on a key road in the province's Khashrod area.
There have been several Taliban attacks on men building the road and about 10 Indian nationals working on the project have been killed over the past few years.
An Indian engineer was killed in Taliban suicide bombing in the area in June and two other Indian road workers died in a similar attack in April.
The discovery of the bomb comes a day after a suicide attack in Kabul struck New Delhi's embassy, killing 41 people including two Indian envoys.
The Taliban, in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, have denied involvement in the embassy attack and the Afghan government has hinted that Pakistan's intelligence service was involved.
India is one of the main supporters of post-Taliban Afghanistan pledging around 750 million dollars' worth of assistance since 2001.
The workers, including engineers, had noticed a "suspicious package" on the bus yesterday as they were travelling to work in the southwestern province of Nimroz, provincial governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad said. They called the police who discovered it was a remote-controlled bomb, he said.
The driver of the bus was arrested for questioning. "The bomb could have been fixed on his bus without him knowing but all this will be made clear after the investigation is over," he said.
Azad blamed Taliban militants for the attempted attack on workers for the Indian Border Road Organisation which is working on a key road in the province's Khashrod area.
There have been several Taliban attacks on men building the road and about 10 Indian nationals working on the project have been killed over the past few years.
An Indian engineer was killed in Taliban suicide bombing in the area in June and two other Indian road workers died in a similar attack in April.
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The discovery of the bomb comes a day after a suicide attack in Kabul struck New Delhi's embassy, killing 41 people including two Indian envoys.
The Taliban, in government in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, have denied involvement in the embassy attack and the Afghan government has hinted that Pakistan's intelligence service was involved.
India is one of the main supporters of post-Taliban Afghanistan pledging around 750 million dollars' worth of assistance since 2001.
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