Saturday 14 September 2013

Firefight at U.S. Consulate in Western Afghanistan.

Firefight at U.S. Consulate in Western Afghanistan.

Afghan security forces carried a wounded police officer on
Friday during an attack on the American Consulate in Herat.
KABUL | Afghanistan  | 14 Sep 2013 ::  An attack in the western city of Herat that killed seven people and wounded 20 on Friday morning underscored the continued fragility of the security situation in the country, even in pockets of Afghanistan long considered peaceful.
The attack began around 5:30 a.m. when a group of five suicide bombers detonated a van full of explosives near the auxiliary gate of the American Consulate, according to the office of the governor of Herat Province. As many as 20 civilians in the area were also sent to hospitals for treatment, said Sayed Wahid Qattali, the head of the provincial council.
After the explosion, which shattered the glass of the consulate building and structures in the surrounding area, attackers mounted an assault on the consulate. An hourlong firefight resulted in the deaths of several insurgents, who were unable to breach the gate, according to provincial and police officials. American security personnel helped fight off attackers who tried to enter the compound, according to a statement from the State Department.
The dead included two security guards. The American ambassador to Afghanistan condemned the attack, expressing sadness for the loss of life and the toll suffered by Afghan contract workers at the consulate and civilians swept up in the attack.“We are reminded again of the very real human toll exacted by terrorism,” Ambassador James B. Cunningham said in a statement. “The perpetrators of this attack have shed Afghan blood on Afghan soil.”
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault.
The last few months have been especially violent ones in Herat, an area long known for its rich history and, until recently, its relative stability.
In July, the brother of Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Afghanistan’s national security chief, was fatally shot in a district that neighbors the city of Herat, the provincial capital. In mid-August, insurgents killed nine construction workers and one police officer just outside the capital. Days later, militants executed six government engineers working on a road project in the province. And just last week, violent protests outside the Iranian Consulate in the provincial capital resulted in the fatal shooting of one protester and the wounding of two others.(Courtesy:The New York Times)

No comments:

Post a Comment