The contention by US Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said that Indians were not the target of the latest Kabul attack has come as a surprise to the Indian government here.
Sources said the comments were surprising considering the fact that the Afghan government has clearly stated that attack was against Indians and carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), whose sworn agenda is to target Indian interests.
Holbrooke had told reporters in Washington Tuesday that he did not "accept the fact that this was an attack on an Indian facility like the
(Indian) embassy. They were foreigners, non-Indian foreigners hurt. It was a soft target.
Let's not jump to conclusions."
The sources here wondered on what basis Holbrooke made the statement.
Seven Indians, including three Major-rank army officers, associated with developmental projects were killed and nine others, including four army officers, were injured in the assault that was reminiscent of 26/11.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has termed it as an attack on Indians.
Afghanistan's intelligence service has said that the attack was directed against Indians and gunmen had detailed knowledge, including names,
of Indian guests at the two hotels - Park Residency and Noor Guest House, which were targeted in Kabul on Friday last.
"We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that the attack on the Indian guest house ... is not the work of the Afghan Taliban but this attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba network, who are dependent on the Pakistan military," the Afghan intelligence agency's spokesman Saeed Ansari said in an interview.
According to sources, the attackers, after detonating an explosion, stormed the two hotels and hunted for Indians staying there. One of the
attackers, speaking in Urdu, even was calling his targets by name, according a report in Washington Post.
It is widely believed that LeT is a proxy for Pakistani agencies.