Evidence of Laskar hand, not Taliban

NEW DELHI: Fresh evidence has emerged pointing to Lashkar-e-Toiba’s (LeT) involvement on the deadly attack against Indians in Kabul. “We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that the attack on Indian guest house is not the work of Afghan Taliban but was carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba network,” Sayed Ansari, Afghan intelligence spokesman, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post .

Ansari said Afghan officials had determined that one of the bombers involved in the Friday attack yelled: “Where is the Indian director”, as he stormed into one of the hotels. The news report said others had also sought out the Indians. “This kind of information, where the Indians are, is not the ability of the Afghan Taliban to know,” Mr Ansari said.

However, the report said, American intelligence officials in Kabul believe that the attack was carried out by the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based Afghan militant group. But, the paper said, that Indian officials suspect that the two groups worked together to stage the raid. According to counter-terror experts here, LeT is now more than a mere Pakistani terror outfit. It has strong connections with Al Qaeda and globally on par with it. The paper said that the involvement of LeT would have significant implications as it would undermine the fragile peace efforts between the two countries.

India and Afghanistan had previously implicated Pakistan and its Haqqani network for the bloody 2008 bombings of Indian Embassy in Kabul that claimed 58 lives. The emerging collaboration between LeT and Afghan militant groups was corroborated by retired Pakistani Brigadier Mohammad Saad who told the Post, “they (LeT) are aligning with the Taliban.”

The Pakistani army officer said the members of LeT were training with Haqqani network in North Waziristan and that language problems force these recruits to operate alongside Afghan militants inside Afghanistan.