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United Nations chief condemns attack on Indian Consulate in Afghanistan

A blast has been reported close to Indian Consulate in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, reports said on Tuesday. Further details about the explosion were awaited, they said.

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He says there were three gunmen and all were killed. “Afghan officials have confirmed that the operation has ended”, said a Indian government source.

He also said the casualty toll from Monday evening’s suicide auto bombing near the Kabul International Airport has risen to two dead and 36 civilians wounded, including nine women.

“The clearance operation is over and all the terrorists have all been killed”, said provincial police chief Sayed Kamal Sadat.

Security forces and rescue teams rushed to the blast site immediately and cordoned off the area.

An Indian official, who was hunkered down in a secure area within the diplomatic enclave, said all consulate employees were safe.

The attack began late on Sunday after gunmen tried unsuccessfully to break into the consulate, taking advantage of the fact that many people were watching the final of a football championship between Afghanistan and India.

The security of these sensitive facilities were recently heightened after the ITBP deployed over 35 commandos at Indian missions in Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat, Kandhar and Mazar-i-Sharif.

The attack followed a raid over the weekend by suspected Islamist insurgents on an air force base in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

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The gunfight in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif continued for 25 hours, and no group has taken responsibility for the attack.

Blast near Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad