Sushmita Banerjee shot by Pakistan Taliban, not Haqqanis

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan has told India that Indian author Sushmita Banerjee was assassinated by members of Pakistani Taliban, shifting the focus from the pro-Pakistan Haqqani network suspected earlier.

Mohibullah Samim, governor of Paktika province, where Banerjee was killed earlier this month, has informed Indian Ambassador Amar Sinha that arrests in the case have revealed the hand of Pakistani Taliban, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said on Wednesday.

Afghanistan has arrested six or seven persons for the assassination of Banerjee, who was married to Afghan national Jaanbaz Khan and had moved back to the country last July. Paktika province is close to the disputed and porous Durand Line that divides Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We are following the matter with laser precision,” Akbaruddin said.

Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh discussed this matter along with other issues when she met Afghan deputy foreign minister Ershad Ahmadi in Delhi on Tuesday, an official said.

The security of Indian nationals including the country’s diplomats in Afghanistan has been a major worry for the government and the fear is getting intensified as international troops are set to withdraw from the region, added the official, who did not wish to be named.

India will focus on global terror financing, counter piracy measures, reforms of UN Security Council, peacekeeping and Millennium Development Goals at this year’s UN General Assembly High level session from September 24 to October 1, Additional Secretary (International Organisations) Navtej Sarna said.