Gunmen attack Indian consulate in Afghanistan

Gunmen attacked India’s consulate in the main western Afghan city of Herat on Friday before being repelled by security forces, the foreign ministry in New Delhi said.

While there were no immediate reports of casualties among staff at the mission, the attack underlined the precarious security situation in Afghanistan ahead of a presidential election run-off next month.

India had previously accused Pakistan’s security services of being behind attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan and the assault comes only days after incoming prime minister Narendra Modi invited Pakistan’s premier Nawaz Sharif to his inauguration ceremony in Delhi next Monday.

“Earlier this morning, the Indian consulate in Herat was attacked,” foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told the news channel NDTV.

“One gunman was shot by the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) while they were trying to breach the consulate,” he said, adding that Indian and Afghan security forces had been “successful in rebutting this attack”.

Afghanistan has seen a major flare-up in violence ahead of a run-off presidential election on 14 June, with 16 policemen killed in a series of attacks in the space of 24 hours earlier this week.

Providing security for the election will be a key test for around 350,000 Afghan police and soldiers who have taken over full responsibility from NATO combat troops.

While Pakistan was the main ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime before its ouster in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, India was one of the Islamists’ chief enemies.

India has poured $2 billion in reconstruction aid into Afghanistan, and is mulling requests for further support, including military assistance in Kabul’s battle to contain a Taliban insurgency.