After Kabul attack, India calls for terror treaty

Expressing concern over the terror attack on Indian embassy in Kabul, India's envoy to United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri has asked the world leaders to negotiate an international treaty to tackle terrorism expeditiously.

"Our embassy in Kabul was again subjected to yet another terrorist attack, which has resulted in injury of Indian security personnel as well as death of large number of Afghan civilians," Puri told the committee of the General Assembly that handles a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues.

"While it is important for the international community to condemn terrorism and these attacks in an unequivocal manner, it is also critical that we strengthen the legal framework in the fight against terrorism," he said.

Earlier, UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks at the Indian embassy. The Security Council also deplored the "reprehensible" attack demanding that those responsible be brought to justice.

On its website, the Taliban write that one of their "martyrs" carried out suicide car bomb attack in a heavily fortified diplomatic area and added that the Indian embassy "was the main target".

The United States has condemned the suicide bombing near the Indian Embassy in Kabul, that claimed 17 lives, terming it a "senseless violence".

"There's no justification for this kind of senseless violence. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families of those who lost their lives in the attack," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

17 Afghan civilians were killed while three ITBP personnel were injured in the powerful car bomb which struck near the Indian embassy and the Afghan Interior Ministry in the heart of Kabul yesterday.

The Afghan Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack and said that the Indian embassy was the "main target".