JALALABAD, Afghanistan, March 2 (UPI) — A massive bomb blast and a gun battle in which five attackers were killed Wednesday shook India’s consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
A suicide bomber set off an explosion at the consulate’s front gate, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said. Everyone working within the building was safe, though minor injuries were reported.
Afghan security forces and India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police engaged in a gunfight with militants in the street. No group has taken responsibility for the attacks. Police said the suicide bomber killed only himself, and that nine people were injured in the gun battle.
Eyewitnesses said windows and doors in nearby buildings along Jalalabad’s row of consulates were destroyed by the blast, as were at least eight vehicles.
A similar incident occurred Jan. 3 on India’s consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, when attackers attempted to storm the building and were repelled after a 25-hour gunfight and bomb siege. Afghan police blamed Pakistani military personnel for that attack. Another suicide attack, blamed on Islamic State militants, occurred in near Pakistan’s consulate in Jalalabad in January.
