Attack on Pakistan consulate kills 7

Seven security personnel were killed in the attack claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

Witnesses earlier said heavy gunfire and a series of explosions could be heard and residents and children from a nearby school had been evacuated.

A security source told Afghanistan’s Tolo News that five policemen were killed and 11 people including three schoolchildren and a consulate staff member have been injured in the attack.

Speaking about resumption of direct talks between Afghan government and Taliban, the ambassador said that resumption of talks would bring peace and stability in Afghanistan by reducing violence in the country. He said that Pakistan had already working on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan transmission line, including the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, which follows a bomb near the Indian mission last week.

Explosives detonated within the money of the unstable western land of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan close to the consulate, eliminating two cops and, at least, two civilians, authorities stated on Friday. The Afghan leader “expressed his concern and grief over the incident”, according to a statement by PM Office.

Referring to Afghanistan and Pakistan as Khorasan, ISIS has been up front in its words and actions about fomenting terror and establishing its grip in the volatile region.

The Islamic State terrorist group on Wednesday claimed credit for a suicide attack on the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad in Afghanistan, calling it a “blessed operation”. But he said security forces surrounded the house and killed them in a two-hour gunfight.

Afghan officials allege the Taliban leadership is sheltering in Pakistan and Islamabad’s military is better placed to influence insurgent leaders and push them to the table for peace talks with the Kabul government.

An Indian Air Force base in Pathankot was also attacked on January 2 by six terrorists believed to be Pakistani. A traffic police officer and two civilians were injured in the bombing, he said.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, it was stated the attack on Pakistani consulate in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad area is condemnable.

The attack comes two days after Islamabad hosted a meeting of representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States to discuss ending the Taliban’s 14-year insurgency.