Modi condemns attack on Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan; speaks to Hamid Karzai
Kabul/New Delhi: Indian Consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province was attacked on Friday by four heavily armed gunmen, who were also carrying rocket-propelled grenades, top Indian officials said, adding that everyone was safe.
All the four gunmen have been gunned down, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Subhas Goswami said. "One terrorist was killed by ITBP personnel while three have been killed by Afghan forces. The attack has been successfully repulsed," he said.
The Director General also said that security at the Indian Embassy in Kabul and consulates in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Khandhar besides Herat has been beefed up and a high alert sounded to all Indian assets based across Afghanistan.
"We have been on alert. Our sister agencies have been providing intelligence inputs regularly about sabotage activities against us in Afghanistan. We have asked all our units to be on alert and vigilant," Goswami told PTI.
The ITBP, a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry, has recently bolstered its security at all Indian installations in Afghanistan by sending a squad of 80 trained commandos to the country.
A squad of 23 personnel was manning the Herat consulate when it was attacked.
Indian Prime Minister-elect, Narendra Modi condemned the attack, saying he has spoken to the Ambassador and is closely monitoring the situation.
I condemn the attack on our consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Closely monitoring the situation. I have spoken to the Ambassador as well.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2014Modi also spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and thanked him for the efforts of Afghan forces in thwarting the attack. Afghan President assured him that everything will be done to protect India's Missions there.
No diplomatic staff has been injured in the attack which started around 3:30 am.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. India has invested in some major infrastructure projects in Afghanistan like Salma hydroelectric dam in Herat province and the Afghan parliament building in Kabul.
India's development assistance programme for Afghanistan currently stands at USD two billion, making it the leading donor nation among all regional countries.
Afghanistan has experienced a rise in the Taliban attacks as foreign troops plan to withdraw from the war-torn country by the end of the year.
In August last year, a failed bombing against the Indian Consulate in Jalalabad city near the border with Pakistan killed nine people, including six children. No Indian officials were hurt.
The Indian Embassy in Kabul was attacked twice in 2008 and 2009 that left 75 people dead.
