Bodies of Indian victims in Kabul attack flown to Delhi (1st Lead)

Jul 8, 2008, 8:16 GMT

New Delhi - The bodies of the four Indians, including two diplomats, who were killed in a suicide attack on the Indian mission in Kabul were flown into New Delhi, officials said Tuesday.

Defence Attache Brigadier RD Mehta, political counsellor V Venkateswara Rao and two Indo-Tibetan Border Police security guards were among 44 people killed when a suicide bomber attacked the gate of the Indian embassy on Monday morning.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and offered condolence on behalf of the Afghan people.

A press statement issued from the presidential palace on Tuesday said Karzai assured Indian prime minister that the Afghan government would take all possible measures to investigate and arrest those involved in the suicide attack.

'Enemies of peace and stability cannot achieve anything while carrying out such activities,' said Karzai.

Afghanistan and India have long historical ties and their relations are expanded and strengthened, said Afghan president.

More than 140 people were injured in the first major attack on an Indian mission abroad and the deadliest suicide bombing in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Relatives of the Indian victims accompanied the bodies on a special Indian Air Force plane that reached the New Delhi airport late on Monday night.

'He was to join us soon,' a relative of Venkateswara Rao told reporters.

Rao's body was flung over the roof by the impact of the explosion that blew off the embassy's gates and outer structure and damaged buildings inside the compound, the NDTV network said in its report.

According to Afghan authorities, terrorists in cooperation with some secret agencies in the region had carried out the attack. They said the bomb was placed in a Toyota Corolla car driven by the suicide bomber.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in Japan to attend the G8 summit, condemned the attack and said he was horrified at the deaths of Indians in the attack.

'India is with the families of those bereaved. We will do all that we can to help them bear their loss and grief. This is our pledge,' Singh said.

The United Nations also condemned the attacks. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement issued in New York that the attackers targeted civilians, mentioning that 'no political agenda or grievance can justify such reprehensible means.'

The UN Security Council in a presidential statement Monday also called for international efforts to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and supporters of the 'reprehensible act' to justice and called on all governments to 'cooperate actively' with Afghan authorities in this regard.