Afghan forces chopper-dropped at encounter site in Mazar-i-Sharif

Pakistan, however, denied any involvement in the attack, with its foreign ministry spokesperson dismissing reports linking it to the same, as “total rubbish”. Just when it seemed that things were finally sorted -government officials claimed on Saturday that all the attackers were eliminated, and combing operations were underway to neutralise any threats – an explosion suddenly rocked the base again.

“The area can not be declared fully sanitized”, Air Marshal Anil Khosla told a news briefing in New Delhi. Without recovering their bodies, they could not be confirmed dead.

“Police says, no casualties were reported yet from attack on #Indian Consulate in Maza-i-Sharif city”.

“The President of Afghanistan, Mr Ashraf Ghani made a telephone call to the Prime Minister”.

In May 2014 heavily-armed gunmen raided the consulate in Herat and the embassy in Kabul has been attacked twice with dozens killed. It is believed that at least 2-3 attackers are still alive and hiding in a building near the consulate.

“Two attackers are believed to be killed after security forces engaged them”, they said. According to provincial police spokesman Sher Jan Durani, the armed men were shooting at the Afghan forces from inside the building into the morning hours. While there were no Indian casualties in the attack, some Indian jawans (exact number not known) were injured. The Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Amar Sinha also tweeted a message, confirming his staff’s safety.

Security forces have launched a daunting onslaught to nail down at least two to three other mercenaries who are holed up in a five-storey building about 100 metres across the road from the facility. “Details are very sketchy at this point in time”, he said.

The attack on the consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif was the latest on high-profile Indian targets in Afghanistan.

After the Sunday attack, the security of Indian establishments in Afghanistan has been beefed up.

The attack followed a raid over the weekend by Islamist insurgents on an air force base in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Military trucks were seen entering and exiting the walled compound throughout the day, including a demining vehicle.

Sarkar said the shooting lasted for 20 minutes.

Local police officials said some consulate workers had been evacuated during the fierce fighting.