Suicide bomb attack, gunbattle near Indian Consulate in Afghanistan kills seven security personnel

Nangarhar: A suicide bomb attack and subsequent gunfire outside the Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad killed at least seven Afghan security personnel on Wednesday.

The attack took place not far away from the Indian Consulate located in an area which houses foreign missions.

The suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Pakistani consulate and the bombing was followed by gunfire from unidentified terrorists.

Afghan security forces swiftly responded to the attack and engaged with the gunmen barricaded in a house near the Pakistan Consulate.

The gunbattle continued for nearly four hours.

"Seven of our security forces were killed and seven others wounded as a result of the terrorist attack," Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter.

It was not clear how many terrorists had been killed.

Witnesses earlier said heavy gunfire and a series of explosions could be heard and residents and children from a nearby school had been evacuated.

Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, had earlier said a suicide bomber tried to join a queue of people seeking visas to Pakistan and blew himself up after being prevented from entering the building.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Indian interests have been targeted twice this month - an attack on the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan), and a raid by Islamist insurgents on an Air Force base in Punjab.

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

(With agency inputs)