New Delhi
12 April 2008
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Nimroz province of
Afghanistan on Saturday morning, killing two Indians and injuring seven others,
including two Afghan nationals.
The suicide attacks took place at about 8 in the morning near Minar town, when the
convoy comprising the Indian personnel was going to Delaram. Two Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) personnel, MP Singh and C Govindaswamy, were killed in the double
suicide attacks.
The five Indians injured in the attacks have been identified as Bishram Oroan, Vikram
Singh, Muhammad Nazin Khan, Anil Kumar Thampee and Mayaram. Two unidentified
Afghans working with the Indians on the road construction project were injured, too, with
some reports suggesting an Afghan driver may have died in the explosions.
Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Jayant Prasad said the bodies of the two deceased
can be expected to be airlifted to India some time on Monday. "The bodies are at the
camp site. They will be taken in a military aircraft to Zaranj from where they will be
airlifted to Kabul on Sunday," he told this newspaper on Saturday evening.
Mr Prasad described the condition of one of the Indians injured in the suicide attacks as
"serious", and said his next of kin has been informed. He would not identify the
seriously injured Indian, except for saying he has been taken to a local hospital, from
where he is expected to be taken to Zabol. Another of the injured Indians was in Zaranj.
The remaining three injured were still at the camp site.
In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs was quick to condemn the attacks. "The
Government of India strongly condemns this latest act of terrorism aimed against its aid
and humanitarian programme in Afghanistan. It reiterates its determination to continue to
work with the Afghan people and government for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of
Afghanistan and the well-being of the Afghan people," it said in a statement.
"We regret to announce that in a suicide attack on the road construction project of the
Border Roads Organisation in Afghanistan between 0900 and 0930 hours (Indian time)
this morning, two of our personnel have lost their lives and five others have been
injured," the Ministry of External Affairs statement elaborated.
(A Reuters report from Kabul quoted the Afghan Interior Ministry as saying three Indians
and an Afghan were killed and three wounded in the attack. The report further quoted the
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency as saying a Taliban spokesman
claimed responsibility for the killings.)
The Ministry of External Affairs statement said arrangements were being made for
immediate evacuation of the dead bodies and those wounded. "We offer our deepest
condolences to the families of the victims of this terror attack. We are contacting the
families of the deceased and wounded. Compensation and insurance for the victims will
be disbursed immediately," it added.
Although the Ministry of External Affairs here said the Indians were attacked by a
vehicle-borne suicide bomber, the Indian ambassador in Kabul spoke of two suicide
bombers. Certain reports quoted the governor of Nimroz province, Ghulam Dastgir Azad,
as saying a third potential suicide bomber with an explosive-filled jacket was captured.
An AFP report from Herat said a man claiming to be Taliban spokesman had said his
outfit was behind the attack. The man, identifying himself as Yousuf Ahmadi, said the
Taliban first detonated two mines and then a suicide bomber blew himself up, the French
news agency reported.
About 400 BRO personnel are engaged in construction of the 218-kilometre road from
Zaranj to Delaram to facilitate movement of goods and commodities from Afghanistan to
Iranian border. It is being built as part of India's assistance programme for
reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Taliban has been opposed to India's engagement in development and reconstruction
work in Afghanistan and have been issuing threats in the past. On January 3, a suicide
bomber ambushed a BRO convoy, killing Manoj Kumar Singh and Desha Singh of the
Indo-Tibetan Border Police. In December 2005, the Taliban kidnapped and killed a BRO
driver Maniappan Raman Kutty, with a demand that all Indians should leave Afghanistan.
India is fifth 5th largest bilateral donor in Afghanistan after the United States, the United
Kingdom, Japan and Germany. Over 4,000 Indians are engaged in activities relating to
the construction of various infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.
Saturday's double suicide attacks come after eight persons were killed and 22 injured in
a suicide car-bomb attack on Thursday in Kandahar. A North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO) convoy was purportedly the target. A day earlier, on Wednesday, 17 road workers
were killed in an attack orchestrated by the Taliban in Zabul.
The United Nations has said over 8,000 people have been killed in insurgency-related
violence in Afghanistan in 2007 alone.
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