Modi condemns Jalalabad attack, Sushma meets victims' kin

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday "strongly" condemned the terror attack in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city that killed at least 19, including many Sikhs on Sunday, and offered India's assistance to Kabul.

"We strongly condemn the terror attacks in Afghanistan yesterday. They are an attack on Afghanistan's multicultural fabric. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that the injured recover soon.

"India stands ready to assist the Afghanistan government in this sad hour," Modi said on Twitter.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also expressed her "heartfelt condolences" to the families of the victims and that the government was with "with them in this hour of tragedy".

She later met a delegation of representatives of SGPC, Sikh community from Afghanistan and relatives of the victims.

"Condemning the suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed 13 members from the Afghan Sikh community, EAM @SushmaSwaraj expressed sincere condolences during her meeting with a delegation of representatives of SGPC, Sikh community from Afghanistan and relatives of the victims," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in Jalalabad, where President Ashraf Ghani was to hold a meeting with provincial officials. A Sikh candidate for the upcoming October parliamentary polls was among those killed.

--IANS

ps/vd