Afghan forces foil attack on Indian mission in Jalalabad

Afghan security forces have arrested a would-be suicide bomber and thwarted his plan to attack the Indian Consulate in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad city, bordering Pakistan, the second such incident within a week.

Citing Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), officials today said the forces yesterday arrested the suicide bomber who was planing to attack the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province.

The bomber, identified as Nasir, is a resident of Tagab district of north-eastern Kapisa province, Attaullah Ludin, a spokesman for the provincial governor, was quoted as saying by the Tolonews.

He said Nasir had recently joined the Taliban and confessed to his plot during investigations.

There was no comment from the Taliban on the incident.

Last week, security personnel arrested two ISIS terrorists who had planned to attack vehicles of the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad city.

Ata-ur-Rahman alias Hanzala and Abdullah alias Qari Ismail were arrested with a 30-KG bomb before reaching to their target, Khaama Press reported, citing a statement released by NDS on December 14.

In a footage sent to media together with the statement by NDS, one of the suspects identifying himself as Ata-ur-Rahman says they were told to plant the landmine on the side of the road to target vehicles of the Indian Consulate.

The Indian Consulate is located close to the area from where the suspects were rounded up.

When asked to comment on these arrests, External Affairs Ministry Vikas Swarup in New Delhi said that it once again shows the security situation in Afghanistan and the need to be ever-vigilant against such attempts.

In June this year, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency had arrested a group of Haqqani network militants who plotted terror attack from Pakistan on a popular guest house in Kabul that killed 14 people, including four Indians.

The terrorists had attacked the guest house thinking Indian Ambassador Amar Sinha was present in the compound.

In May 2014, the Indian consulate in Herat was attacked by four heavily-armed gunmen, who were subsequently killed in an encounter. India had attributed the strike to terror elements “beyond the borders” of the war-torn country.

In August 2013, a failed bombing against the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad killed nine people, including six children. No Indian officials were hurt.

The Haqqani network is blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people.

First Published: Dec 21, 2015 23:35 IST