Author: Manu Pubby
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 27, 2010
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/evidence-of-pak-blackmail-how-isi-paid-taliban-to-hit-indians-in-kabul/652296/0
Introduction: Week before bombing of Kabul mission, specific Polish warning
Backing New Delhi's finding that the ISI was
actively involved in attacks on Indians working in Afghanistan, intelligence
documents leaked Sunday reveal that the Pakistani spy agency paid the Taliban
and the Haqqani terror network to target Indian missions, road workers, doctors
and engineers working in the country.
US military documents, part of over 90,000
internal logs made public by website WikiLeaks, reveal that intelligence agencies
received regular inputs on the ISI paying terror outfits to plan and execute
attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan.
A March 2008 intelligence report said the
ISI paid the Haqqani network $15,000-30,000 to eliminate Indian nationals
working on the key Zaranj-Delaram road project and target engineers and road
workers. The report said that "in one particular case, it was reported
that the ISI ordered Serajuddin Haqqani to eliminate Indian nationals working
in Afghanistan" and to kidnap "doctors, officers, engineers and
labourers" working on the road project.
A month later, two engineers of the Border
Roads Organisation (BRO) working on the project were killed in an attack by
a suicide bomber that also left six Indians injured, including three road
workers. The attacker was one of the Afghan labourers engaged for the project.
Another intelligence report, that came from
the Polish a week before the July 2008 attack on the Indian mission in Kabul,
warned that the Taliban was planning an attack on the embassy and would use
a stolen car to strike.
The report said the budget of the operation
was $120,000 and would be carried out to "show TB's abilities to carry
out attack on every object in Kabul" - TB is a reference to the Taliban.
"TB designated an engineer - to take
this action. He intends to use stolen ANA/ANP car, and wear stolen uniform.
He speaks Dari with distinct Iranian accent."
India lost two officers, including an IFS
officer and a Brigadier, in the attack that almost brought down the mission
building in Kabul. Investigations revealed that the attackers used explosives
and tank shells in the suicide vehicle that had been manufactured in Pakistan.
The most direct report on the connection between
the ISI and the Haqqani network is a "threat report" that the US
military received in November 2007, seven months before the first attack on
the Indian mission. It revealed that the ISI gave orders to one of its agents
to orchestrate an attack on Indian consulates in Afghanistan.
The ISI, the report says, gave orders to an
agent identified as Sarkateep to establish relations with local Afghans to
conduct attacks against Indian consulates in Jalalabad, Kabul, Herat, Kandahar
and Mazar-e-Sharif. It said Sarkateep "established relations with a driver
whose name is Sardar Shah (an employee of the Indian consulship in Jalalabad)
and he is going to establish relations with another Afghan employee. After
that he will go to Kabul".
While there are several reports that indicate
links between the ISI and the Taliban - one talks of a plot to import poisoned
alcohol from Pakistan to kill Afghan and coalition troops - some which mentioned
Indian interests were shared with New Delhi.
These leaked reports are the first official
confirmation that the US had leads on the links between ISI, Taliban and the
Haqqani network in coordinating attacks against Indians in Afghanistan.
