National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday interacted with a group of Indians working in Kabul. At the closed-door meeting inside the fortress-like Indian mission here, these representatives informed him of the issues they faced.
There are some 4,000 Indians working in the fields of health care, power and education as part of the country's multimillion humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Afghanistan.
A few of those who survived the February 26 attack in Kabul recounted the incident on the fateful morning when attackers first blew up an explosives-laden pick-up van in front of the Noor Guest House and how later armed attackers conducted a door-to-door search seeking out Indians. Thanks to his training, one survivor spotted the attacker just as the terrorist started aiming his automatic weapon at him.
An army doctor, who was standing near the window when a gunman started to move, ducked just in time and had a providential escape. A bullet grazed his right cheek, leaving behind a telltale mark.
While the spirits of the Indians remain high, constraints on movements within the city have increased.
Reports said attackers at the nearby Park Hotel, frequented by Indian officials and other delegations, searched for a former Indian mission official who is now serving a world body. Fortunately, he was away from Kabul, while in another room an Indo-Border Tibetan Police official escaped unhurt as he had stepped out early in the morning.
