LeT threat prompts security upgrade at Afghanistan and Nepal missions 13 Mar 2010, 0640 hrs IST, ET Bureau
Source: ET
NEW DELHI: Even as an additional ITBP platoon leaves for Kabul on Saturday to further secure the Indian mission there, a security upgrade is also
underway at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in view of fresh terror threats from ISI-backed jihadi outfits having bases in Nepal.
According to the latest intelligence inputs, ISI-backed terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba are looking at targeting Indians on foreign soil. Considering that New Delhi is extremely active in Afghanistan and Nepal, ISI is particularly eyeing the Indian missions there.
As part of the security beef-up underway at the Kathmandu mission since last month, the boundary wall is being raised and fortified, CCTVs are being installed for better surveillance and access control is being improved by erecting boom barriers for vehicles at entry points. Though an immediate increase in the number of security personnel currently deployed to secure the embassy is not planned, better surveillance systems and fortification is expected to tackle terrorists’ attempts to storm the mission premises with an explosive-laden vehicle. This mode was employed in last year’s terror bid on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
It is no secret that Pakistani terror outfits have been using Nepal as a safe haven for their cadres trained and tasked to carry out attacks in India. The continuing political uncertainty in the Himalayan Kingdom has almost given these elements a free run. The trained cadres and commanders often fly from Pakistan to Kathmandu and then cross over to India through its porous border with Nepal to carry out terror acts in the hinterland.
The ongoing political gridlock over writing of the Nepal Constitution and the possibility of the country slipping into a state of Emergency if the May 28, 2010, deadline for a new Constitution is not met, have only compounded the threat from jihadi groups and also, to an extent, from the Maoists who have threatened to take to the streets.
As regards the security upgrade at Kabul mission in the wake of February 26 blasts, around 30-40 additional ITBP personnel are being rushed to counter the enhanced threats to diplomatic staff and relief missions. A new site to relocate the Indian government’s relief missions, hitherto housed in hotels and guest houses located close to the embassy, has already been identified. It will have a fortified boundary wall and all other security measures in place at the Kabul mission.
NSA Shivshankar Menon had on Thursday warned of a threat of Indian diplomats in Afghanistan being kidnapped en masse by the Taliban.
New Delhi is also planning a separate detailed review of security of diplomatic staff and relief missions in the coming days. This will also cover the Indian consulates in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharief, Kandahar and Herat. A security team comprising officers of Intelligence Bureau and R&AW will travel to Afghanistan soon to review the security arrangements at these facilities in view of the “enhanced threats of terror attacks targeted at Indians”.
NEW DELHI: Even as an additional ITBP platoon leaves for Kabul on Saturday to further secure the Indian mission there, a security upgrade is also
underway at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu in view of fresh terror threats from ISI-backed jihadi outfits having bases in Nepal.
According to the latest intelligence inputs, ISI-backed terror outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba are looking at targeting Indians on foreign soil. Considering that New Delhi is extremely active in Afghanistan and Nepal, ISI is particularly eyeing the Indian missions there.
As part of the security beef-up underway at the Kathmandu mission since last month, the boundary wall is being raised and fortified, CCTVs are being installed for better surveillance and access control is being improved by erecting boom barriers for vehicles at entry points. Though an immediate increase in the number of security personnel currently deployed to secure the embassy is not planned, better surveillance systems and fortification is expected to tackle terrorists’ attempts to storm the mission premises with an explosive-laden vehicle. This mode was employed in last year’s terror bid on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
It is no secret that Pakistani terror outfits have been using Nepal as a safe haven for their cadres trained and tasked to carry out attacks in India. The continuing political uncertainty in the Himalayan Kingdom has almost given these elements a free run. The trained cadres and commanders often fly from Pakistan to Kathmandu and then cross over to India through its porous border with Nepal to carry out terror acts in the hinterland.
The ongoing political gridlock over writing of the Nepal Constitution and the possibility of the country slipping into a state of Emergency if the May 28, 2010, deadline for a new Constitution is not met, have only compounded the threat from jihadi groups and also, to an extent, from the Maoists who have threatened to take to the streets.
As regards the security upgrade at Kabul mission in the wake of February 26 blasts, around 30-40 additional ITBP personnel are being rushed to counter the enhanced threats to diplomatic staff and relief missions. A new site to relocate the Indian government’s relief missions, hitherto housed in hotels and guest houses located close to the embassy, has already been identified. It will have a fortified boundary wall and all other security measures in place at the Kabul mission.
NSA Shivshankar Menon had on Thursday warned of a threat of Indian diplomats in Afghanistan being kidnapped en masse by the Taliban.
New Delhi is also planning a separate detailed review of security of diplomatic staff and relief missions in the coming days. This will also cover the Indian consulates in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharief, Kandahar and Herat. A security team comprising officers of Intelligence Bureau and R&AW will travel to Afghanistan soon to review the security arrangements at these facilities in view of the “enhanced threats of terror attacks targeted at Indians”.
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