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Kabul bomber 'planned to destroy Indian embassy'

The suicide bomber who detonated his vehicle at the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul intended to destroy the embassy itself, the Indian ambassador to Afghanistan said yesterday.

  • AP
  • Published: 00:04 July 10, 2008
  • Gulf News

Kabul: The suicide bomber who detonated his vehicle at the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul intended to destroy the embassy itself, the Indian ambassador to Afghanistan said yesterday.

Ambassador Jayant Prasad also said the death toll from Monday's bombing had risen to 58, up from 41, after several people died of their wounds. Prasad said several school-age children who attend classes near the embassy were among the dead. The Education Ministry confirmed that eight school children died.

"It is our reconstruction of events that the intention of the attacker was to detonate the device within the premises of the embassy and destroy the embassy," Prasad said.

A review of the bomb scene showed that one of the embassy guards killed in the blast still had his hand on the closed gate. The guard likely hadn't opened it because he saw a suspicious car driving close behind an embassy vehicle, Prasad said.

"The suicide attacker then decided to explode his device outside rather than inside, so the maximum impact was taken by the [sand-filled blast] barriers," he said.

Expecting trouble

"So the damage to the embassy wasn't structural." The blast barriers were installed in the last few weeks, Prasad said, because "we were expecting trouble". Prasad said the embassy was attacked because of projects India is carrying out in Afghanistan. India has spent $750 million (Dh2.75 billion) in aid since 2001, he said.

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