Afghan official suggests Pakistan linked to bomb

Washington Post ^

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Afghan official suggests Pakistan linked to bomb

By AMIR SHAH The Associated Press Tuesday, July 8, 2008; 7:23 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan officials have evidence that foreigners were behind a massive suicide bombing against India's embassy in Kabul, President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said Tuesday, implying that Pakistan orchestrated the attack.

The spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, did not name Pakistan's intelligence agency but told reporters it was "pretty obvious" who was behind Monday's bombing, which killed 41 people and wounded 150.

An Afghan security report released earlier Tuesday found that the bombing could not have succeeded without the support of foreign intelligence agencies, another reference to Pakistan, India's archrival.

"The sophistication of this attack and the kind of material that was used, the specific targeting, everything has the hallmarks of a particular agency that has conducted similar attacks inside Afghanistan. We have sufficient evidence to say that," Hamidzada said. "The project was designed outside Afghanistan. It was exported to Afghanistan."

Among the blast's victims were four Indians working in the embassy, including the military attache and a diplomat.

Pakistan's prime minister denied Tuesday that its intelligence service was behind the attack. Speaking in Malaysia, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country has no interest in destabilizing Afghanistan when both countries are fighting terrorism.

"We want stability in the region. We ourselves are a victim of terrorism and extremism," said Gilani on the sidelines of a summit of eight developing Islamic nations. He did not elaborate.

India has donated millions of dollars to Afghanistan for reconstruction, and there are thousands of Indian engineers and laborers in the country helping to build roads and other infrastructure.