At least two police personnel were killed in an explosion near foreign consulate buildings in eastern Afghanistan’s Jalalabad town on Wednesday, sources and witnesses said.
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A senior Afghan police officer said yesterday that Pakistan army officers were behind the January 3 attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif.
On Monday, officials from those countries, China and the United States met in Islamabad to begin crafting a road map for peace talks with the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a tweet: “Seven of our security forces were killed and seven others wounded as a result of the terrorist attack”.
While a police spokesman said investigators were trying to determine the target, Indian officials claimed that the Indian mission was not the target. Residents and children from a nearby school had to be evacuated.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the blast in Jalalabad which is the main trade gateway to the Khyber Pass and Pakistan.
Khan, however, said the consulate would open as usual on Thursday, though the visa section would remain closed over the weekend as they assess the extent of damage caused by the attack and effect repairs.
In Pakistan on Wednesday, at least 14 people were killed in a blast near a polio vaccination centre in the southwestern city of Quetta. Sadat further assured India that the Afghan forces would try hard to track down, identify and detain those who had assisted the attackers to gain access to a building situated near the Indian consulate. Ghani assured the prime minister of more security measures for Pakistani diplomats in Afghanistan, and apprised him regarding the attack, a statement released by the PM house said.
The attack is the latest in a spate of violence since the start of 2016, which could be a tough year for Afghanistan as insurgents are expected to escalate the violence in order to enter into any peace negotiations from a position of strength.
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The area had been sealed off and security forces were engaged in “eliminating” the attackers, it said. Sharif thanked the Afghani president for his concern and also conveyed his condolences on the deaths of Afghan security personnel. Now, Afghan investigators have found connection between the terrorists and Pakistani military establishment.
