Jalalabad consulate too in terror hit list

NEW DELHI: In an indication of the increasing threat to India in Afghanistan, intelligence agencies have warned of terror threats against the Indian consulate in Jalalabad and the embassy in Kabul.

Sources said that the alerts of terror strikes are based on inputs from both foreign and Indian intelligence agencies. The inputs also point to an upsurge in the movement of terrorists in Kabul and Jalalabad.

It is understood that there have been various intelligence inputs in the past couple of weeks leading up to the Kabul attacks suggesting terror threats against Indian interests including the Indian missions in Afghanistan. These have been termed as ``credible’’ threats and are being taken very seriously.

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon will be in Kabul soon to review the security of Indian nationals and Indian installation in Afghanistan in the wake of the Kabul attacks in which terrorists targeted Indians.

In the Kabul attack, two embassy staffers from the Consulate General of India in Kandahar and Consulate General of India in Herat were among the seven Indians who were killed in the attacks.

The threat perception regarding the Indian missions has been there for some time now. The security at the consulates were upgraded following the attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 and 2009. India has four consulates at Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Herat.

Pakistan in particular has continued to object to the Indian consulates in Afghanistan, particularly the ones close to the border, saying it was being used to spy on Pakistan. Pakistani leaders have continued to publicly question the existence of the consulates, which play an important part in Indian reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.