ISI suspected for attack in Kabul

While India may not want to straightaway point a finger at Pakistan for Friday's Kabul attacks, which came a day after the resumption of dialogue between the two countries, there are indications that the suicide attacks could have been carried out at the behest of Pakistan's ISI.

Highly placed government officials confirmed that India's external intelligence wing, RAW, had repeatedly warned the government about meetings between the Taliban and ISI officials since September last year aiming to attack Indian interests in Kabul.

The attack on a hotel used by Indians also came as the new US led surge saw the Afghan flag being planted in Marjah where the troops have wrested aTaliban stronghold. It is seen as part of the Taliban desire to show that they can strike anywhere in the heart of Kabul but also meshes with ISI's objective to "evict" Indian presence from Afghanistan.

The bombing does complicate matters for India as it has just begun an engagement with Pakistan that cannot be abruptly called off. It has again showed up a lack of options while dealing with Pakistan when US pressure seems the only effective instrument. Given the lack of pressure points between talks and hostilities, New Delhi will not find it easy to toughen its position.

The first of the intelligence inputs came in September 2009 from RAW which said that officials from ISI's joint intelligence (north) wing had discussed plans to carry out attacks against Indian aid workers in Kabul with the Gulbuddin Hekmatyar group. Of all the Taliban insurgent groups, Hekmatyar heads the smallest one but is well known for being ISI's most trustworthy ally in the region. His Hizb-e-Islami group is fighting alongside the Taliban against the US-led forces.

"Since then, almost every month there had been credible information about meetings which ISI officials had with the Hekmatyar and Haqqani factions of Taliban to discuss the modus operandi for the attacks. It's only natural for Indian security agencies to believe that these meetings could have culminated in Friday's attacks,'' said a source, adding that New Delhi was still waiting for a report from the Afghan government on the identity of the attackers.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks but their spokesperson did not specify which faction was responsible. According to sources, the input from RAW suggested that most of these meetings to target India were held with the Hekmatyar group. The same ISI officials are said to have had such meetings with the Haqqani faction which too is known for being strongly backed by Pakistan.

The inputs said that officials from ISI's joint intelligence (north) and joint intelligence (miscellaneous) wings were present in these meetings. While joint intelligence (north) is responsible for ISI's operations in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the miscellaneous wing is known to carry out disruptive activities in foreign countries, mainly India. In fact, the infamous Karachi Project, which was confirmed by the home ministry earlier, is said to be the brainchild of joint intelligence (miscellaneous) wing.

Indian officials are also closely looking at the possibility of an army officer, Samir Ali, having played a role in the blasts. Ali is one of the army officers who have been named by India in the dossier provided to Pakistan on February 25. While it's not yet confirmed whether Ali is a serving officer or has retired, he is known to carry out operations for ISI. "Even if he has retired from the army, as per the information we have, he is certainly working for ISI and his focus is India,'' said an official, adding that Ali is wanted in 26/11 and was also one of David Headley's handlers.