DEBORAH AMOS, Host:
This is MORNING EDITION From NPR News. I'm Deborah Amos.
RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
Pakistan has vehemently denied a report appearing in today's New York Times that says the country's intelligence agency had a hand in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
The attack last July 7th left dozens dead. The Times report said U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted communications between Pakistani intelligence officials and the militants who carried out the attack in Afghanistan. NPR's Jackie Northam is in the Afghan capital of Kabul and joins us now to talk about this. And give us a few more details on that report in the New York Times.
JACKIE NORTHAM: Well, it says that according to unnamed U.S. government officials, Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, the ISI, did help orchestrate the bombing of the Indian embassy here in Kabul, that the U.S. intelligence had intercepted communications, as you say, before the attack, between ISI officials and militants.
There's no real sense of what assistance was provided to the militants, but that it wasn't the work of rogue agents. In other words, that it was condoned from the top. And, that a senior CIA official was order to Islamabad in July, to confront officials there with this information.
MONTAGNE: Now, this will probably not come as a surprise to the governments of either Afghanistan or India, for that matter, because there has been talk for years and complaints by the Afghanistan government that Pakistan is, indeed, in some way supporting Taliban militants.
NORTHAM: Right. I mean, if this information is correct, it will only bolster claims by both Afghanistan and India that Pakistan was behind the bombing. Afghanistan came out immediately after the attack and blamed Pakistan, and India followed suit a few days later. And Islamabad denied any involvement. But the ISI has had very close ties with the Taliban and other Islamist militants for a couple of decades. But these are very serious charges that the ISI has actually played a role in the attack.
It's worth mentioning that the ISI is virtually a state within a state. There's no oversight of the agency. It's extremely powerful. But last Saturday, it was placed under control of Pakistan civilian government, and there wasn't any clear reason given at the time. This news will now help explain that move.
NORTHAM: Jackie, there's also increasing concern in Washington about Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, and its links to the Taliban. That is the bigger issue here, that the Taliban has increased its cross-border attacks from Pakistan into Afghanistan and what the link might be to the government there.
NORTHAM: Yeah, you're right. There's enormous concern in the U.S. about that. I've just spend the past few days with the U.S. military here in Afghanistan, and officials say certainly there's an increase in the number of Taliban and other militants crossing the border to fight U.S. and NATO troops. But they are also seeing signs that the militants are more organized, that their attacks are better planned and coordinated. And this leads U.S. military officials to believe that the Taliban and such militants are receiving more funding and training in Pakistan. And there's also more concern that the ISI may be passing on information about U.S.-NATO troop movements and other such details to the Taliban. This is obviously placing a great strain on Washington's relationship with Pakistan, which it considers and hopes is a strong ally.
MONTAGNE: : Jackie, thanks very much.
NORTHAM: Thank you, Renee.
MONTAGNE: NPR's Jackie Northam, speaking from Kabul, Afghanistan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
