Attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Herat thwarted
All the four gunmen, who had stormed the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province early on Friday, have been gunned down, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief Subhas Goswami said.
Gunmen armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades had attacked the Indian consulate but no diplomatic staff was injured in the assault.
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One terrorist was killed by ITBP personnel while three have been killed by Afghan forces. The attack has been successfully repulsed," he said.
Goswami also said security at the Indian embassy in Kabul and consulates in Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kandahar besides Herat has been heightened 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.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke to prime minister-designate Narendra Modi and assured him that Kabul "will do all to protect Indian missions there".
The external affairs ministry said Modi thanked Karzai for the "efforts of Afghan forces in thwarting (the) attack on India's consulate in Herat".
Modi had, earlier, condemned the attack on the consulate and called the Indian ambassador to Afghanistan Amar Sinha.
Afghan security forces escort a man away from the scene of an attack on the Indian consulate in Herat. AFP　
"I condemn the attack on our consulate in Herat, Afghanistan. Closely monitoring the situation. I have spoken to the Ambassador as well," he posted on Twitter.
Modi also assured all support to the staff in the country.
In a pre-dawn assault, the gunmen attacked the building which houses the residence of consulate general, Sinha told PTI, adding that there were nine Indians in the mission apart from local Afghans.
One attacker was killed while climbing the wall to enter the premises of the consulate, he added.
The gunmen had opened fire on the consulate from a nearby home, provincial police chief Abdul Sami Qatra told AP.
Gunfire continued into Friday morning.
According to AP, local police spokesman Raouf Ahmadi said officers thought there could be a fourth gunmen involved in the fighting as gunfire came from different directions.
Police officers surrounding the area had orders to fire carefully due to other residential compounds nearby, Ahmadi said.
By mid morning on Friday, the building was ablaze, though it wasn't clear what started the fire.
Gen Taj Mohammed Jahid of the Afghan National Army said soldiers believed the gunmen had hid in the basement.
Jahid said soldiers continued to search for the gunmen.
The MEA had confirmed the attack saying ITBP and Afghan soldiers have repelled the attackers.
Attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Herat thwarted, all four gunmen killed - Hindustan Times
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I am glad the police handled the situation very well, with no deaths other than the terrorists. I also hope India's new prime minister improves military and intelligence cooperation with Afghanistan.
