7 Afghan officials and 2 militants died in Jalalabad blast near Pakistani consulate

According to details, the Deputy Interior Minister of Afghanistan also confirmed the Pakistani consulate was the intended target of the attack. Foreign Ministry confirmed all Pakistani officials of the consulate were safe and unharmed from the attack.

The Foreign Office also disclosed that they were obtaining facts related to the attack and were in contact with the Pakistani consulate in Afghanistan.

Cordoning off the area, local Afghan officials at the scene said they were investigating the ongoing attack outside the consulate, which is also near the Indian diplomatic mission.

“Two policemen were killed after the suicide attack, which was followed by gunfire,” interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish had told AFP earlier.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Indian interests have been targeted twice this month in spectacular assaults: an attack on its consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, and a raid by insurgents on an air force base in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

A small bomb also exploded near the Indian consulate in Jalalabad last Tuesday, but no casualties were reported.

The latest attack comes close on the heels of four-country talks in Islamabad aimed at reviving stalled peace talks with the Taliban.

The talks between representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States and China on Monday came even as the insurgents wage an unprecedented winter campaign of violence.  – Agencies