Explosions and gunfire rang out late on Sunday as militants tried to storm the Indian diplomatic mission in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, officials said.
“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.
There was no immediate comment from the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, which said further details are awaited. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kabul and his diplomatic outreach to Pakistan.
A local police spokesman said security officials had cordoned off the area where sporadic gunshots were ringing out after a series of explosions.
Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s ministry of external affairs, told AFP that no Indian casualties had been reported so far.
The consulate assault is the latest in a series of attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan.
Muneer Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh province governor, said insurgents had hidden in a house near the consulate and struck after darkness fell. He said attackers had tried to enter the consulate but had so far not been able to. “Right now our security forces are fighting them,” he said.
An Indian official said there had been no reports of Indian casualties so far and it was not certain that the consulate itself was the target of the attack. “Details are very sketchy at this point in time,” he said.
It came amid renewed efforts to reduce longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan and restart peace talks with the Afghan Taliban as part of a broader drive to improve stability in the region.
Afghan news agency Pajhwok Afghan News said in a tweet, “Police confirmed blast in gun fires in PD4 near to #Indian consulate in #Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif city.”
In a series of tweets, it said, “Balkh governor spokesman told Pajhwok that attackers entered a house and firing on Indian Consulate in Maza-i-Sharif city.”
“Police says, no casualties yet reported from attack on #Indian Consulate in Maza-i-Sharif city.”
“Gun fires resumed after armed people attacked #Indian Consulate in MazairSharif city.”