The Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, a northern Afghan city, came under attack on Sunday, with an unknown number of gunmen attempting to enter the compound after twin explosions.
Reuters quoted Muneer Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh province governor, as saying that insurgents had hidden in a house near the consulate and struck after darkness fell. The attackers had tried to enter the consulate but had so far not been able to, Farhad added. “Right now our security forces are fighting them.”
No details on casualties or damage were immediately available.
However, according to a Reuters report quoting an Indian official, there had been no reports of Indian casualties and it was not certain that the consulate itself was the target of the attack. “Details are very sketchy.”
The Mazar-i-Sharif incident took place even as Indian security forces were trying to suppress an attack on an air base in Pathankot, near the Pakistan border, that has killed at least seven military personnel and wounded 20 others.
Incidentally, the attacks — in Pathankot and Mazar-i-Sharif — have come at a time when India and Pakistan have renewed efforts to reduce tensions and restart peace talks, with Afghanistan and Taliban as part of a broader drive to improve stability in the region.
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