Death of Perpetrators of Suicide Attack on Indian Consulate in Afghanistan

The Indian consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, was targeted by a series of suicide attacks on Wednesday, March 3, resulting in five injuries and the deaths of the attackers. Reuters reported, citing Afghan officials, that Afghan security forces managed to prevent the attackers from entering the Indian consulate and ultimately ended the confrontation by killing them. The report states that one of the attackers detonated a vehicle near the Indian consulate, causing the explosion to shatter doors and windows of nearby buildings and destroy at least eight vehicles. Following this explosion, continuous gunfire echoed in the area as security forces intervened. Reuters included statements from Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial governor, who said, 'Their target was the Indian consulate, but our forces eliminated them before they could reach their goal.' This Afghan official also stated that there were four attackers. Jalalabad had also witnessed a suicide attack near the Pakistani consulate less than two months ago, which left over ten dead. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for that attack, which has recently increased its presence in Nangarhar province. However, no group has yet claimed responsibility for today's attack on the Indian consulate. Last month, the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, was also targeted. In this context, the deaths of ten Afghan police officers at the hands of a 'Taliban infiltrator' have raised the civilian casualty count in the Afghan crisis to its highest in seven years.