Taliban attack on Afghan army may hit India projects; New Delhi concerned about $3 bn investments

The deadly and well-coordinated attack by the Taliban in the Northern Balkh province in Afghanistan on Friday afternoon, killing as many as 140 Afghan soldiers, is as much a blow to India as it is to Afghanistan.

Sources here said that the Taliban surge could affect a year-long Indian pilot project in the region, aimed at mobilising the rural poor into common interest groups for promoting savings, entrepreneurship and job creation. The project was modelled on self-help groups in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. India also had plans to set up two basic health clinics and a comprehensive health clinic in the Balkh Province.

India has several developmental programmes running in the Northern Province, as part of the total assistance amounting to almost $3 billion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first world leaders to condemn the attack. Later, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that the attack was a stark reminder of the need to immediately dismantle safe havens of terrorism from outside that country's borders, an obvious reference to Pakistan.

The MEA said India remained steadfast in its support to Afghanistan in fighting all forms of terrorism. Mazar-e-Sharif serves as the capital of the Balkh province, which is also home to Afghanistan's first vice-president and former Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.

According to Afghan news agency Khaama Press, the Taliban claimed that four of its fighters had enrolled in the 209th Shaheen Corps, months before to plan and coordinate the attack on the army base. Taliban group spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid released the picture of the 10 suicide bombers who launched the attack.

The Taliban claims that around 500 army personnel were killed or wounded. The attack came days after US President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser HR McMaster discussed the Afghanistan situation with leaders in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi, nearly a week after the US military dropped a massive non-nuclear bomb.

Reports said that a group of suicide attackers, driving at least two Afghan National Army vehicles, managed to pass the first security gate. When they were stopped at the second, one of the attackers blew himself up, and the rest entered the base, Zulmay Wesa, commander of 209th corps in Balkh province, told Afghan news agencies.

They went straight to the mosque where soldiers were praying, and opened fire. "After the prayer, we went outside and saw an army vehicle with 3-5 people in it. They came out and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," news agencies quoted a bodyguard at the base. Elsewhere on the base, at least one attacker went on a shooting rampage in a dining facility, according to an American security official.

The northern provinces, home to anti-Taliban forces, were assessed comparatively peaceful than the Pashtoon-dominated southern part of Afghanistan. But over the years, peace in the region has shattered. In January 2016, terrorists had attacked the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif. After being kept at bay by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at the consulate, all four terrorists were later killed by the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF).

Quoting Taliban spokesman, Khamma Press reported that militants involved in the attack have been identified as Ahmad Safi Balkhi, Mullah Lal Mohammad Nangarhari, Hafiz Nematullah Kabuli, Qari Feda Mohammad Baghlani, Hafiz Zabiullah Kunduzi, Eng Talha Wardak, Mullah Jawad Kandahari, Hafiz Zia-ur-Rehman Khosti, Abdul Basir Parwani, and Mohammad Nabi Ghaznawi. The attack forced President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to make an unannounced visit to the province on Saturday.

Afghan officials say one of the suicide bombers was arrested while the other one managed to detonate his explosives, opening the way for others to start firing on the soldiers.

Analysts are working to turn the situation in Kabul, where rifts within the ranks of the National Unity Government (NUG) is becoming serious. The situation has taken a precarious turn with President Ashraf Ghani sacking Ahmad Zia Massoud, his top advisor for reforms and good governance, early this week. Experts say Ghani's move may further deteriorate the fragile political situation and may even push the country towards a civil war.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government says it is ready to welcome and facilitate the return of former warlord, the chief of the Hizb-I-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), Gulbadin Hekmatyar, to Kabul. Hekmatyar spokesman, Qaribur Rahman Syed, told Afghan media agency Pajhwok Afghan News that a majority of the problems regarding the return of HIA leader had been resolved and a joint commission of the party and the government was working on other issues.