Polish intel had warned ahead of Kabul Indian embassy attack

Betwa Sharma
New York, Jul 26 (PTI) A week before the July 2008
bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, Polish intelligence
had tipped off of a possible Taliban strike on the Indian
mission, according to leaked US military documents, which also
say that American ally Pakistan's ISI maintains direct links
with the outlawed Afghan group.
The leaked documents title "The War Logs", also say
that ISI has set up a semi-autonomous 'S-wing' to run
operations against India and Afghanistan and an official of
the powerful spy agency is in charge of running suicide
attacks in Kabul.
"Taliban are planning to carry out an attack on the
Indian embassy in Kabul. TB (Taliban) designated an engineer
____ to take this action," WikiLeaks, the online
whistleblower, quoted the Polish intelligence warning of
possible strike on June 30, 2008, almost seven days before the
attack took place.
The documents, the biggest leak in intelligence
history, said the attack on the Indian embassy led the CIA's
then deputy director Stephen R Kappes to immediately go to
Islamabad to confront the ISI with evidence that it had helped
organise the attack. But the leaks gave no clue whether the
Indians were tipped off about the impending attack.
A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into
the heavily fortified Indian embassy gates in Kabul on July 7,
2008, killing 58 people and wounding more than 140.
Defence Attache Brigadier R D Mehta and Counsellor
Venkateswara Rao were among those killed as the suicide bomber
targeted the embassy during the morning rush hour.
"INS (Insurgents) are planning to divide into two
groups: first will attack Indian embassy building, whilst the
second group will engage security posts in front of MOI
(Ministry of Interior), IOT (In Order to) give possibility to
escape attackers from the first group," said the warning, part
of a massive leak of 92,000 documents, posted by WikiLeaks on
Sunday.
"Budget for this action is about USD 1,20,000. The
main goal of this operation is to show TB's (Taliban)
abilities to carry out attack on every object in Kabul."
Suggesting that the war in Afghanistan is going badly
for the US, the leaks said Pakistan's ISI was allowing its
representatives to meet directly with the Taliban and fueling
insurgency against the US-led forces.
Giving details of the Polish intelligence tip-off, the
leak said that attacker intended to use stolen ANA/ANP (Afghan
National Army/ Afghan National Police) car, and may wear
stolen uniform.
"He (the attacker) speaks Dari with distinct Iranian
accent. Allegedly, he is the owner of a ___ company," it
added. (MORE) PTI