Gunmen attack Indian consulate in Afghanistan
Print Edition
GUNMEN armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked an Indian consulate in western Afghanistan yesterday, though its diplomatic staff escaped unharmed, police said.
At least three gunmen opened fire on the consulate from a nearby building in Herat, provincial police chief Abdul Sami Qatra said.
Qatra said police and soldiers killed three assailants in a gun battle that saw the building catch fire as authorities evacuated neighbors.
Security forces continued to search the area in case there were other gunmen, Qatra said.
Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said a deployment of the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police at the consulate held off the assault until Afghan forces arrived. He said all the Indians at the consulate were safe.
“Our consulate and our diplomatic presence in Afghanistan have been under threat,” Akbaruddin told TimesNow TV, without elaborating.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, a group called Ansar al-Tawhid that appears to be based in Afghanistan posted a video online on May 17 that threatened India, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist websites.
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