At least two people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad in Afghanistan this morning, officials said. Mohammad Ashraf said two others were wounded.
After the blast, two gunmen entered an empty guesthouse near the consulate, which was quickly surrounded by security forces as a firefight began.
Notably, the attack on the Indian consulate occurred when India’s security was questioned following the Pathankot airbase seized.
The area around the Pakistan consulate in Nangarhar province was sealed off after the attack.
The suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Pakistani consulate and the bombing was followed by gunfire from unidentified terrorists.
An official at the Pakistan embassy in Kabul said all consular staff were evacuated.
Besides this, two gunmen, barricaded inside a house near consulate were also killed, ending the siege, Geo TV said quoting Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi.
Police officials ensured their efforts to track down, identify and detain those who assisted the attackers gain access to the building were underway.
The Afghan Taliban distanced themselves from Wednesday’s attack with their spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid saying in an email sent to The Express Tribune that the group “does not have any link with the attack in Jalalabad”.
“Before Wednesday, Daesh was only limited to a few districts of Nangarhar, but now they carried out an attack in the city, so they are trying to spread out”, he said, using a common shorthand for the Islamic State group.
So far, no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States met this week to try to resurrect efforts to end almost 15 years of bloodshed in Afghanistan, even as fighting with the Taliban intensifies. The Taliban have split in recent months, with insurgent factions divided over whether to join the peace process.
The Indian Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked on 3 January, with senior Afghan official Sayed Kamal Sadat laying the blame on the Pakistani Army.
The blast comes 10 days after a terror attack near the Indian consulate in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif city.
