Suicide bomber kills 7 on Pakistan consulate attack

Seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed Wednesday after unidentified gunmen attacked the Pakistani consulate in Nangarhar province, an official said on Wednesday.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after a series of strikes on Indian installations in the region and amid an unprecedented Taliban campaign of winter violence.

Attaullah Khyogani, the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said the blast happened at 9am on Wednesday in the provincial capital, Jalalabad, which is close to the Pakistan border. He said two civilians were also wounded.

Interior Ministry spokesman Seddiq Sediqqi confirmed earlier that two police officers had died in the initial explosion near a police car parked outside the consulate.

“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 four hours after the attack started.

This comes as General Ayoub Salangi said in a tweet that the two attackers had been killed by Afghan security forces, who surrounded the empty government guest house where they had taken refuge after the suicide bomber detonated himself.