'Pak ordered Suryanarayana's killing'

New Delhi: In a dramatic development, the Taliban claimed on Sunday that it was directed by Pakistan to kill kidnapped Indian engineer K Suryanarayana.

A senior Taliban Commander from the Zabul province made this revelation in an exclusive interview to a private television, Tolo TV. It was in Zabul province that Suryanarayana had been kidnapped three weeks ago and later beheaded.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry refused to react to the reports immediately, saying it would not like to react to media reports.

It is believed that Pakistan is wary of the Zaranj-Delaram highway coming up in Afghanistan. The highway will link Afghanistan with the Iranian port of Chah-bahar.

At present, Afghanistan is completely dependent on the Karachi port in Pakistan.

Pakistan promptly denied the allegations and insisted that it has no hand in the killing of the Indian engineer in Afghanistan.

"Pakistan is willing to work with India or share information to clarify the matter. Pakistan was a friend of Taliban only in the past," Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid told CNN-IBN.

Pakistan sees Afghanistan as coming under its sphere of influence and is against India's role in that country. It is also deeply suspicious of the new consulates that India has established in Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat.

The Taliban commander claimed that Pakistan intelligence had a hand in the killing. The Taliban commander wishing to remain anonymous told the private TV channel that Amir Khan Haqqani, the military commander of Taliban fighters in Zabul province, opposed the killing of Suryanarayana.

He claimed the Indian engineer was eventually killed by Mullah Latif, a militiaman under the command of Mawlawi Mohammad Alam Andar, allegedly on orders from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff Jawed Ludin said the administration expects Islamabad to clarify its position on the accusation.

"The reports on Pakistani ISI involvement in the incident are very important to Afghanistan," Ludin said, adding Kabul expects Islamabad to clarify its stance.

Suryanarayana was abducted by the Taliban from Zabul province on April 28 and his body was found on April 30.

After Suryanarayana's killing, the Indian Government has decided to deploy more ITBP forces for protecting Indians working in Afghanistan.

(With agency reports)