2 min readJalalabadMar 2, 2016 07:49 PM IST
First published on: Mar 2, 2016 at 01:57 PM IST
As gunfire rang out, security forces in armoured vehicles were seen moving to the scene while civilians fled.
Afghan security forces on Wednesday killed four suicide bombers who targeted the Indian consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad, following an attack in which at least two people were killed and 19 wounded, officials said.
The violence, coming just days after dozens of people were killed or wounded in suicide attacks in the capital, Kabul, and the eastern province of Kunar, raises further questions over efforts to revive a stalled peace process with the Taliban.
A bomb in a car driven by one of the attackers was detonated near the Indian consulate, shattering doors and windows and destroying at least eight cars as explosions and gunfire rocked the area, witnesses said.
Security forces in armoured vehicles were seen moving to the scene, while civilians fled.
But the four attackers were killed before being able to enter the consulate compound, said Attahullah Khugyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.
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“Their target was the Indian consulate, but our forces shot and killed them all before they reached their target,” he said.
“Indian Consulate in Jalalabad has been attacked. One suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the mission. All Indians in the mission are safe while a local staff has sustained minor injuries,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi.
The attack follows a similar incident outside the nearby Pakistani consulate in January, which killed one person.
On January 3, heavily-armed terrorists carried out an attack on the Indian mission in Mazar-e-Sharif which lasted for over 25 hours with all the attackers who attempted to storm the building getting killed by the Afghan security forces.
Soon after that also in January, Islamic State jihadists claimed responsibility for a deadly gun and bomb siege targeting the nearby Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad.
As gunfire rang out, security forces in armoured vehicles were seen moving to the scene while civilians fled.
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