By KUNA,
New Delhi : A team comprising top Indian foreign ministry officials left for Afghanistan Monday to bring back bodies of the two Indian diplomats and two security personnel killed in the suicide attack on its Kabul Embassy.
It is with very great regret and a heavy heart that I have to announce that in the terrorist attack on our Mission in Kabul this morning, we have lost five of our personnel. Defence Attache Brig. R.D. Mehta, Counsellor V V Rao, security personnel Ajai Pathaniya and Roop Singh were killed in the attack. One of our Afghan staff members Niamatullah was also killed in the attack, India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement here this afternoon. The Indian Government offers its deepest condolences to their families as also to the families of the others who were killed in this dastardly attack, the Minister said. A special team under the leadership of Nalin Surie Secretary ( West) in the External Affairs Ministry flew to attend to this emergency situation. T C A Raghavan, Joint Secretary in charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the External Affairs Ministry, is part of the delegation that also includes doctors. Mukherjee held an emergency meeting with Indias Defence Minister A K Antony and officials of the Defence and External Affairs Ministries before the team left. The attack killed at least 44 people and left more than 100 injured. Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to India David C. Mulford today offered condolences to the citizens and government of India following today’s tragic suicide attack outside the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan.
The United States Government is shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life caused by this deliberate act of terrorism. We extend our sincere condolences to those injured by this criminal act and the families of the victims. The United States and India stand side-by-side in the effort to build democracy in Afghanistan.
Craven acts of terror like those committed today can only strengthen the resolve of both our nations to defeat terror around the world, Mulford said in a statement here.