By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian mission in Kabul, the target of a suicide bombing attack Monday, had itself warned of “compound invasions” on important buildings in the Afghan capital less than two months ago. Ironically, the person who issued the advisory was himself a victim of the attack on the Indian embassy Monday.
Early Monday morning, a suicide bomber blew up a car laden with explosives at the entrance of the embassy in Kabul, killing 44 people including military attache Brigadier R.D. Mehta, press counsellor V. Venkat Rao and two Indian security personnel.
Brigadier Mehta had been regularly issuing security advisories for Indian nationals in the violence-hit Afghanistan. His last advisory was on May 29 after a suicide attack on a convoy of the multinational force on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway that left three dead.
But, two days before that Mehta had prepared his advisory titled, “Threat of suicide attacks and compound invasions in kabul city”.
Specifically, he had stated: “Reports also suggest that militants can attempt to attack and invade some important compounds in the city”.
The specific threat was a new information in his regular warnings to Indian nationals to remain alert about their surroundings and keep distance from military convoys.
In another advisory issued on May 11, Brigadier Mehta talked about “the need for sensitizing all concerned about the latest technique, particularly the personnel checking vehicles entering the premises of the Embassy/India House/consulates”.
Interestingly, the advisory note was based on analyses by Pakistani security agencies of the Lahore bomb blasts in March, where the global positioning system (GPS) was used to trigger explosives planted in vehicles.
“The initiation of such technique by militants in Afghanistan could not be ruled out,” Brigadier Mehta noted.