Pakistan’s Foreign Office has asked Kabul to investigate yesterday’s attack on its consulate in Jalalabad city and share the information with Islamabad.
“We have requested that details of the investigation should be shared with us,” states a statement released by Qazi Khalilullah, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Office .
This comes as President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani reportedly made a phone call to Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif over the incident.
“Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani made a telephone call to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and apprised him of the attack on the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad and expressed his concern and grief over the incident,” states a statement released by Sharif’s office.
The information released also states that President Ghani assured Sharif that additional security measures would be taken for Pakistan’s diplomats in Afghanistan.
The attack begun Wednesday morning with a suicide bombing after which other gunmen engaged in exchange of fire with security forces.
The gun battle continued for several hours before the assailant were gunned down.
Sediq Sediq, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), said at least seven members of the Afghan National Security Forces lost their lives and as many sustained injuries. It also left three civilians wounded. There was no harm to the consulate staff except minor injuries from window glasses which shattered in the blast or during the clash.
Later in the day, the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group which is also known as Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.
The terror group posted an online statement stating that the attack was launched by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near the entrance gate of the consulate compound and then the remaining assailants managed to enter the compound.
It adds that another suicide vest was detonated inside the compound.
The statement also claimed that one of the assailants managed to flee the area and return by killing several consulate staff including a number of Pakistani intelligence – Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) operatives.
However, Afghan officials said all assailants were shot dead by the security forces during the standoff which lasted for almost three hours.
