2008 Indian Embassy Bombing in Kabul - Investigations

Investigations

Afghanistan's intelligence agency Riyast-i-Amniyat-i-Milli, India's Research and Analysis Wing and the United States' CIA are reported to be scanning vast volumes of intercepted communications and questioning informants to find some clues. According to CNN-IBN, Indian and Afghan agencies believe that the Pakistani Army's 324 Military Intelligence Battalion based in Peshawar had planned the attack on the Indian embassy and executed it in collaboration with either the Taliban or al-Qaida. Afghanistan's Interior Minister has stated that the suicide bombers were trained in Pakistan.

India's ambassador to Afghanistan, Jayant Prasad, stated that, after reviewing the scene, the main target of the attack was believed to be the Indian embassy building. He also added that, considering the huge amount of explosives used in the attack, it was clear that target was not top Indian diplomatic officials but the embassy itself. Bomb scene review further revealed that the embassy guard killed in the attack had his hand on the closed gates. The ambassador stated that it is likely that the guard did not open the gate because he saw a suspicious car driving behind an embassy vehicle. The suicide attacker then might have decided to explode his device near the gate rather than inside the embassy's compound. According to investigating officials, much of the impact was taken up by the sand filled blast barriers. These barriers, which were built across the embassy for added protection just one week before the blast, saved it from structural damage.

An investigative report in the Times of India identified the attacker as "22-year-old Hamza Shakoor from Gujranwala district in Pakistan," citing unnamed sources. It also claimed that "intelligence about an imminent attack was remarkably precise, giving an indication about the centres of planning and execution." US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates added that the US was offering help to Afghan and Indian governments to investigate further. Soon American officials came to believe that the attack was conducted by the Haqqani network, a Taliban group led by Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani from Pakistan.