NEW DELHI: India blames Pakistan-based militants for an attack on its citizens in Kabul in February, a government source said today, heightening concern about a South Asian “proxy war” in Afghanistan.

The well-placed source, who asked not to be named, said the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was responsible for

the attack that killed seven

Indians in a gun and bomb assault in Kabul on February 26.

Analysts say India and Pakistan are locked in a struggle for influence in Afghanistan, which could bring new instability to the war-wracked country as US-led international troops eye their exit after mid-2011.

“The LeT is responsible. We have no doubt about that,” the Indian government source told reporters, referring to a group that New Delhi believes to be funded and supported by the Pakistani army and intelligence services.

India also blames the LeT for

the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 that left 166 people dead

and badly strained already acrimonious ties with Pakistan. The

LeT and the Pakistani government deny involvement.

Indian interests in Afghanistan have been repeatedly targeted. Its embassy was bombed in October last year and on July 7, 2008, which some analysts say is a deliberate campaign to encourage New Delhi to pull out.

In a call to AFP last month, a LeT spokesman denied carrying out the February Kabul attacks and said that the group had no network in Afghanistan.

The Indian government source alleged on Thursday that the LeT was operating out of Kunar province, northeast of Kabul.

Despite the repeated attacks on Indians in Afghanistan, New Delhi remains “engaged and committed in Afghanistan,” the source, who was authorised to brief reporters on government policy, said.

“We will be there in Afghanistan as long as the Afghans want us there,” he said, pointing to the close historical and cultural links between the two countries.

New Delhi, which has repeatedly urged the global community

to “stay the course” in Afghanistan, is worried about Pakistan and

the Islamist Taliban assuming

key roles once foreign troops

begin their pullout.

“Obviously we are concerned about any cut-and-run,” the source said, referring to plans

by the US-led forces in Afghanistan to start their draw-down from

July 2011.

“The Taliban are emboldened by the international community seeking an early exit,” he said.

“We are also definitely concerned that efforts are on to outsource peace and stability to a country (Pakistan) that is responsible for causing this mess in Afghanistan,” the source added.