Indian Consulate in Afghanistan attacked, 4 gunmen killed.

Afghanistan's National Army soldiers walk out of the Indian
 Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, after a clash between
 insurgents and security forces on Friday that
killed four militants.

Indian Consulate in Afghanistan attacked, 4 gunmen killed.

The Hindu | AP |24 May 2014 : : The Indian consulate in Herat in Afghanistan was attacked on Friday by four heavily armed gunmen who tried to enter the complex. All four attackers were killed, officials said, adding that the Consulate staff were safe.

The attack began at 3.15 a.m. when the four gunmen tried to break into the consulate, located 600 km from Kabul. Earlier reports had indicated the involvement of three gunmen.

The audacious attack comes ahead of the May 26 swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as India’s next prime minister. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that he will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

Modi tweeted: “I condemn the attack on our consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Closely monitoring the situation. I have spoken to the Ambassador as well.”

Syed Akbaruddin, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson, told IANS in New Delhi: “All the staff of the Indian consulate are safe.”

“The attempt was thwarted by the staff of the (ITBP) Indo-Tibetan Border Police, who were joined by the Afghan security forces,” said Mr. Akbaruddin providing the latest update on the situation.

He said that Mr. Modi had spoken with Indian Ambassador Amar Sinha and bolstered the morale of the Indian staff there.

Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is monitoring the situation and is in touch with her counterpart in Afghanistan, said Mr. Akbaruddin.

Mr. Akbaruddin tweeted: “Firing continuing. Situation remains uncertain. But staff at our consulate safe. India monitoring situation.”

“We are glad to tell that all Indian personnel remain safe. We have rechecked that while the situation remains uncertain, there is no threat to the Indian staff,” he added.

Shaida M. Abdali, the Afghan Ambassador to India, told TIMES NOW TV channel in New Delhi that all four gunmen had been killed.

Mr. Abdali described it as a terror attack.

Asked if the Taliban were behind the attack, Mr. Abdali said: “There is no doubt that it is a terror attack, an attack on the friendship of India and Afghanistan.”

“This attack can only embolden our determination that we will keep this friendship at all costs,” he said.

An ITBP official told IANS in New Delhi: “One of the attackers was killed at the entry point only, while three others managed to flee and enter the adjoining building.”

“But in the meantime, Afghan forces joined the operation and gunned down the other three attackers,” the official added. The area has been cordoned off.

The attack in Herat has surprised many as the city, which lies near Afghanistan’s border with Iran, is considered one of the safest in the country. ( Courtesy : The Hindu )

Six die in Afghanistan suicide attack.

Six die in Afghanistan suicide attack.

KABUL | 31 Aug 2013 :: At least six people were killed and 20 wounded Saturday in a suicide bombing in Kandahar city in Afghanistan, an official said.

"One suicide bomber tried to enter the Kabul Bank branch at Shahidan square in the city. He was intercepted. The attacker blew up his suicide jacket. Five people, including one policeman, were killed and 20 injured as a result of the explosion," Xinhua quoted Jawid Faisal, the provincial government spokesman, as saying.

The target of the attack remained unclear. However, witnesses said members of Afghan security forces were waiting to withdraw their monthly salaries and several of them were among the injured.

The explosion also damaged several buildings and cars.(Courtesy:Indian Express)

Afghan attack: International Red Cross halts all staff movement

Red Cross halts all staff movement after Afghan attack.

An Afghan policeman walks past a vehicle as he 
investigates the aftermath of Wednesday's suicide 
attack and gun battle at the International Red Cross 
building in Jalalabad east of Kabul, May 30, 2013. 
— Photo by AP

KABUL | 31 May 2013:: The International Committee of the Red Cross has halted all staff movement across Afghanistan and closed its office in Jalalabad which was hit by a deadly suicide and gun attack.

The two-hour assault on Tuesday, which left one Afghan guard dead, was the first time ICRC offices have been targeted in Afghanistan since the organisation began work there 26 years ago.

An International Organization for Migration (IOM) complex in Kabul came under sustained attack less than a week earlier, and the two incidents raise the prospect of a new phase in the Taliban's 12-year insurgency in which no organisation is considered off-limits.

The ICRC, with 1,800 employees nationwide, had 36 staff including six expatriates in Jalalabad, which is close to the Pakistani border and surrounded by some of Afghanistan's most unstable districts.

“All movements have been frozen throughout Afghanistan, there is not a single ICRC delegate or employee that is moving, taking the roads, today,” Jacques De Maio, ICRC's South Asia chief, said in a statement released in Geneva on Thursday.

“Our sub-delegation in Jalalabad has been closed, so we are reconnecting with the government and re-connecting with armed groups to determined what happened and why.”

Jalalabad lies on the key route from the Pakistani border region to Kabul, and it has been the scene of repeated attacks in recent years.

A message on the ICRC's Twitter page had initially said that all the organisation's activities across Afghanistan had been suspended. Read more>>>

[Courtesy: AFP & Dawn].