Consulate attack kills 7 Afghan troops
KABUL, Afghanistan — A branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday on Pakistan’s Consulate in eastern Afghanistan that killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces.
The attack in Jalalabad, the capital of the volatile Nangarhar province that borders Pakistan, started when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest outside the diplomatic mission, said Attaullah Khyogani, spokesman for the province’s governor.
The explosion triggered a gunbattle between Afghan security forces and the militants. Along with the policemen killed, seven people were wounded in the attack, Khyogani added.
The suicide bomber died, and the two gunmen, who took positions in a guesthouse close to the consulate, were killed hours after the attack, Khyogani said.
The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant trafficking, said the affiliate known as the “Khorasan Province of the Islamic State” claimed three of its fighters attacked the consulate.
Hazrat Hussein Mashraqiwal, the spokesman for the provincial police chief, said three police and two intelligence officers were among the dead, and three civilians were among the wounded.