Afghan spy chief in Pakistan to handover Kabul attacks evidence

A high-level Afghan delegation comprising the interior minister and the intelligence chief today arrived in Pakistan to handover evidence relating to the recent deadly attacks in Kabul and a message from President Ashraf Ghani, media reports said.

Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said the Afghan team, comprising Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak and National Directorate of Security chief Masoom Stanekzai, visits Islamabad with a message from President Ashraf Ghani and will hold discussions about cooperation, Dawn reported.

However, Afghanistan's Tolo News reported, citing an Afghan presidential palace source, that the delegation is to handover evidence to Pakistan regarding the recent attacks in Kabul. The evidence will be shared with the Pakistan Army, the source claimed, without providing further details.

It said Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called Ghani last night to pass on his condolences but Ghani refused to take his call. Instead Ghani sent a delegation including the interior minister and the intelligence chief to Pakistan to handover evidence relating to the recent attacks.

Afghanistan's capital Kabul was hit by a spate of deadly attacks in the past 10 days - which killed about 150 people and wounded hundreds.

Islamic State militants on Monday attacked Afghan soldiers guarding a military academy in Kabul killing at least 11 troops and wounding 16.

On January 20, Taliban men armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and killed around 25 people, going from room to room searching for foreigners during the more than 12-hour ordeal.

The hotel attack was followed by a Taliban-claimed ambulance bombing on January 27 in the Afghan capital that claimed over 100 lives — mostly civilians.

The Afghan government blamed the attack on the dreaded Haqqani Network.

The Haqqani network, blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people, has carried out a number of kidnappings and attacks against US interests in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Mahmoud Saikal on Monday accused Pakistan's spy agency the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) of training a terrorist involved in the attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel.

"Abdul Qahar, father of one of the terrorists involved in last week attack on #Kabul Intercontinental Hotel, concedes his son was trained in Chaman of #Balochistan Province of #Pakistan by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan.

Qahar is currently in custody of Afg authorities," he tweeted.

A mid-level diplomat at the Afghan Embassy in the US also alleged that the attack was planned by Pakistan.

"The night vision goggles found with Taliban attackers in maiwand's ANA base were military grade goggles (not sold to public) procured by Pak army from a British company & supplied 2 Lashkar-e-Tayyeba in Kashmir & Taliban in Afghanistan.

Lashkar-e-Tayyeba is an int'l terrorist org," tweeted Majeed Qarar, Cultural Attache at the Embassy of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of providing support for the Taliban militants who carry out attacks in the war-torn country, a charge Islamabad denies.