7 dead in attack on Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad

Staff remains safe in the assault claimed by IS; Afghan president phones Nawaz

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad came under a gun and bomb attack Wednesday morning leaving at least seven people dead and three others injured.

The Khorasan chapter of the Middle Eastern ultra-extremist group Islamic State, also known by its Arabic acronym Da’ish, claimed responsibility for the attack.

All Pakistani staff at the consulate remained safe with only one worker suffering minor injuries from broken glass. “It was a big attack,” Pakistani Consul General in Jalalabad Farmanullah Khan told The Express Tribune by telephone. He praised the Afghan security men who sacrificed their lives to protect the consulate staff.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesperson for Nangarhar province’s governor, said a suicide bomber had tried to join a queue of people seeking visas to Pakistan Wednesday morning. But when he was stopped from entering the building, he blew himself up.

Afghan Interior Ministry spokesperson Siddiq Siddiqi said on his Twitter handle that the bomber detonated the charge near a police vehicle that was parked outside the consulate. Two other attackers, Siddiqi said, had entered a nearby guest house of the consulate but were killed by security forces as he confirmed clashes lasted for four hours.

Witnesses said heavy gunfire and a series of explosions could be heard for several hours. Residents and children from a nearby school had to be evacuated. An Indian diplomatic mission is also located nearby.

Nangarhar, to which Jalalabad is the administrative headquarters, has become the main stronghold of Da’ish in Afghanistan. The group has battled the Afghan Taliban for leadership of the insurgency, attracting many former Taliban fighters.



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.

The attack came just two days after a quadrilateral meeting between top officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, the US and China called for immediate resumption of peace talks between Taliban government and the Afghan government.

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.”

Wednesday’s attack bore chilling similarities to a 24-hour long siege last week near the Indian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif that left three attackers dead and injured eight Afghan security officials. No group has claimed that attack so far.

Ghani assures improved security

After the attack, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and assured him of security for Pakistani diplomats.

“Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani made a telephone call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and apprised him of the attack on the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad and expressed his concern and grief over the incident,” reads a statement from the PM Office.

Ghani went on to assure Nawaz that Kabul would ensure more security measures for Pakistan’s diplomats in Afghanistan.

Nawaz thanked the Afghan president for his concern and also conveyed his condolences on the deaths of Afghan security personnel. “Terrorism is a common enemy of both the countries and we will fight this menace together to eliminate it once for all.”

The call came as Pakistan condemned the attack and requested Afghanistan to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the culprits to book.

“We have requested that details of the investigation should be shared with us,” a statement from Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah read. He added that Afghanistan had been “requested to ensure safety and security of Pakistan missions in Afghanistan and our officials working there.”


Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2016.