a bloody mess (south asia edition)

NYT: Indian Embassy bombed in Kabul
"A huge blast from a suicide car bomb at the gates of the Indian Embassy in Kabul killed 41 people and wounded more than 130 on Monday in the latest sign of a sharp deterioration in Afghanistan, where combat deaths have surpassed Iraq’s in the past two months.
It was the deadliest suicide car bombing in Kabul since the American-led invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban in 2001. It comes as Afghan and Western officials have noted with alarm both the weakness of the government of President Hamid Karzai and the growing strength of Pakistani militants in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan."

Indian Express: all (Indian and Afghan) eyes turn to Pakistan
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai blamed the “enemies” of the strong friendship between Afghanistan and India for the attack but did not name any person or group.

Interior ministry spokesman Abdul H Ashiq said that the Indian embassy was the exact target. The Interior Ministry said it “believes this attack was carried out in co-ordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the region”, an obvious reference to the Pakistani ISI.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistani agents of being behind a number of attacks in recent weeks and Karzai last month threatened to send troops across the border to attack militants there if Pakistan does not take action."

AFP: all (Indian and Afghan) eyes turn to Pakistan (2.0)
""We believe firmly that there is a particular intelligence agency behind it," presidential spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told reporters. He would not name the outfit but said it was "very obvious" whom he meant.

A senior government official who did not want to be identified told AFP separately: "Pakistan was behind the attack on the Indian embassy."

BBC: background on the tightening India-Afghanistan alliance
"We may never know precisely who carried out the attack. But the bombing points to the "Great Game" still being played out between neighbours seeking to gain influence in Afghanistan."

Dawn: six small blasts hit Karachi, primarily aimed at Pashtun areas of the city, which over the years has been ripped apart by ethnic clashes and urban insurgency
"He said it was worth noting that the areas struck by the bombs had a large number of Pukhtuns, adding the explosions may have been aimed at sparking ethnic unrest.

Rehman Malik, the prime minister's adviser, was quoted by the APP as saying that the blasts appeared to have been pre-planned and aimed at destabilising the city. Tension gripped several neighbourhoods affected by the bombs, with mobs pelting cars with stones, burning tyres and chanting anti-government slogans."

BBC: suicide bomber kills up to 20, mostly police, at Islamabad rally remembering the Lal Masjid clash of last summer

Hindu: after labyrinthine political maneuvering, India moves forward on the India-US civil nuclear deal

Reuters: former Tamil Tiger eastern commander, now the kinda-sorta-leader of the breakaway TMVP, Colonel Karuna returns to Sri Lanka after being jailed in UK for fake-passport sketchiness
"Karuna was the Tiger's eastern commander until he broke away from the rebels, who have been fighting a protracted civil for an independent state in the north and east since 1983. After his split he mounted hit and run attacks on his former comrades, founding a new faction known as the TMVP that was widely seen as government-backed. "

WashPost: disgraced nuclear scientist/international proliferator AQ Khan says Pakistan Army knew all about about uranium centrifuge shipments to North Korea
"A spokesman for Musharraf rejected Khan's claims, calling them "all lies." But some Pakistani experts have long argued that Khan's network could not have operated without the knowledge of the country's pervasive intelligence agencies."