Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif attacked

No terror group has taken responsibility so far; details on casualty, damage awaited

The Indian consulate in Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif was attacked on Sunday night by unidentified gunmen when they tried to storm the building.

An Indian official said all consulate personnel at the are safe, as explosions and gunfire rang out at the compound.

“Everybody is safe,” B Sarkar, Consul General at the consulate, said. The mission in the northern Afghan city is manned by three Indian personnel.

Sarkar said the shooting lasted for 20 minutes. “They shot from some adjacent building but nobody could enter the consulate.”

An unidentified Indian consulate official was quoted by AFP as saying, “We are being attacked. Fighting is going on.” There was no immediate comment from the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, which said further details are awaited. Sunday’s strike is yet another attack over Indian assets in war-torn Afghanistan.

The attack took place even as the encounter by the security forces with Pakistani terrorists who attacked IAF base in Pathankot in Punjab on Saturday continued for the second day. No group claimed responsibility for the attack which came just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Afghan capital of Kabul on a brief visit on December 25 during which he inaugurated the new building for Afghan Parliament built by India at a cost of $90 million.

In his address to Parliament, Modi made a veiled attack against Pakistan, saying that Afghanistan will succeed only when terrorism no longer flows across the border and when nurseries and sanctuaries of terrorism are shut.

In his address, Modi also made a veiled reference to Pakistan's reservations about Indian involvement in Afghanistan, saying," there are some who do not want us to be here. There are some who did not want us to be here. There were those who saw sinister designs in our presence here. There are others who were uneasy at the strength of our partnership. Some even tried to discourage us," he said.