Agencies
KABUL/NEW DELHI, May 23: The Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province was today attacked by heavily armed gunmen, who were also carrying rocket-propelled grenades, top Indian officials said, adding that everyone was safe.
"India's Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan attacked. Brave ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) personnel and Afghan soldiers rebut attackers. All are safe," said a spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
Three gunmen were killed, one by the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) and two by the Afghan Police, out of four attackers who struck the Consulate which houses two buildings, Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha said. In a pre-dawn assault, the gunmen attacked the building which houses the residence of the Consulate General, Sinha said, adding that there were nine Indians in the mission apart from local Afghans.
One attacker was killed while climbing the wall to enter the premises of the consulate, Sinha said.
"India-Afghanistan officials (were) in touch on attack on India's Consulate in Herat. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh (was) monitoring (the) situation," the official said.
Afghan police officials said that three gunmen armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades opened fire on the consulate early this morning from a nearby home. The police killed two of them, though one continued to fire on security forces.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
India has invested in some major infrastructure projects in Afghanistan like Salma Hydroelectric Dam in Herat province and the Afghan Parliament building in Kabul.
India's development assistance programme for Afghanistan currently stands at USD 2 billion, making it the leading donor nation among all regional countries.
Afghanistan has experienced a rise in Taliban attacks as foreign troops plan to withdraw from the war-torn country by the end of the year.
In August last year, a failed bombing on the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad city near the border with Pakistan killed nine people, including six children. No Indian officials were hurt.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul was attacked twice in 2008 and 2009 that left 75 people dead. |
