Afghan President Hamid Karzai lauded the Indo-Tibetan Border Police

NEW DELHI: Even as India has stopped short of blaming any Pakistan-based terrorist group for the attack on its consulate in Heart last Friday, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba for the strike that was foiled by Afghan security forces and Indian paramilitary forces. Karzai, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Tuesday, claimed that the Afghanistan government had received information from a Western intelligence agency that the attackers belonged to the LeT.

This is not first time that the LeT has been blamed for an attack on the Indian Embassy or consulates in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan President did not name the agency, which gave a written report to the Afghanistan government in this regard. Besides, Karzai, whose comments came at a time when Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was still in India, did not blame Pakistan directly for the attack in Herat last Friday. Karzai shared the information with a select section of the media on Tuesday before leaving for Kabul. He was in India to participate in Modi's swearing-in ceremony held on the previous evening.

The outgoing Afghan President also lauded the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel and the Afghan National Security Forces for their response. "Herat attack was very clearly a terror strike against Indian and Afghan interests. The Indian and Afghan security forces were alert and they prevented major damage to life and property," Karzai said. While he did not specify whether he had shared the information with Modi, he is understood to have shared information with the Indian authorities.

Asked whether India and Afghanistan were victims of cross-border terror emanating from Pakistan, Karzai said, "Both Afghanistan and India hope that Islamabad would act against terror sanctuary." Pointing out that India has been a great friend of Afghanistan for decades, Karzai said, "We have given a weapons wish list to the Indian government. Some equipment has been supplied and the remaining will hopefully be done." India has worked out a deal with close ally Russia to supply arms as desired by Afghanistan. Responding to a question on whether a Taliban government could return to Kabul, Karzai said, "All powers in the region need to come together to defeat terror."

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/35644252.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst