Botched Indian consulate attack leaves 9 dead, mostly children
Print Edition
Three militants wearing explosives-rigged vests killed at least nine civilians, most of them children, in a botched attack yesterday on the Indian consulate in an eastern Afghan city near the border with Pakistan, security officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault in the city of Jalalabad, and the Afghan Taliban denied that it had carried out the attack.
Militant groups based in Pakistan have been blamed for past violence targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan.
Yesterday’s attack began when two men got out of a car as it approached a checkpoint outside the consulate, prompting police to open fire, said Masum Khan Hashimi, deputy police chief for Nangarhar province. As the sides exchanged fire, a third militant still in the car detonated a large bomb in the vehicle.
The blast killed nine bystanders and wounded another 24 people, including a policeman. Six of the dead and three of the wounded were children, said Jalalabad hospital director Dr Humayun Zahir. All three attackers also died.
In New Delhi, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin condemned the attack, hinting that it had been planned outside Afghanistan.
“This attack once again highlighted that the main threat to Afghanistan’s security and stability stems from ... the terror machine that continues to operate from beyond its borders,” he said.
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