Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Pakistan: Envoy shot at in Afghanista­n

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ISLAMABAD — Shots were fired Friday at the Pakistani embassy in Afghanista­n in what Pakistan’s prime minister described as an attempt to assassinat­e his country’s envoy in Kabul. The envoy was not harmed, but a body guard was wounded, Pakistani officials said.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called the shooting an “assassinat­ion attempt” against Pakistan’s representa­tive in the country, in a tweet he posted.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement the assailants had failed to harm its head of mission Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani but shot and “critically injured” a security guard.

It summoned a senior Afghan diplomat in Islamabad over the embassy attack, according to a ministry statement.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi strongly condemned the embassy attack, and said the Taliban will not allow any “malicious actors to pose a threat to the security of diplomatic missions in Kabul.”

Kabul’s police chief spokesman Khalid Zadran said shots were fired from a building near the Pakistani embassy. Police have detained a suspect, he added.

Politician Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, also escaped unhurt a separate attack Friday in Kabul, his office said in a statement. Security guards killed the two attackers as they tried to enter a mosque where Hekmatyar and his supporters had gathered for Friday prayers, the statement said.

Hekmatyar later said the attackers were suicide bombers disguised in women’s burqas.

No one immediatel­y claimed responsibi­lity for either of the attacks in Kabul.

 ?? (AP/Sidiqullah Khan) ?? Taliban fighters stand guard near to the site of attack Friday in Kabul, Afghanista­n.
(AP/Sidiqullah Khan) Taliban fighters stand guard near to the site of attack Friday in Kabul, Afghanista­n.

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