At least Four Injured In IED Blast Outside Pakistan’s Jalalabad Consulate

At least Four Injured In IED Blast Outside Pakistan’s Jalalabad Consulate
At least four persons were injured in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) the Pakistan Consulate General in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

However, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal in tweet said all Pakistani staff were safe and added that "one policeman and two applicants are reportedly wounded."

"We are in contact with Afghan authorities to ensure strengthened security for Consulate General’s premises and personnel," he added.

The consulate had been shut down in August last year and the operations were resumed two months later. Pakistan had cited ‘undue interference’ by the governor of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province in its working and other security concerns as the reasons for the consulate’s closure, DAWN said in a report.

The Foreign Office had said that the consulate is resuming its visa operations “after assurances by the Afghan government that all necessary and required security will be provided to the Consulate Generals.”

Earlier on August 19, a series of bomb blasts struck restaurants and public squares in Jalalabad, wounding at least 34 people as the country marked the 100th anniversary of its independence, DAWN said in a report.

No group claimed responsibility for the 10 bombs but both, the militant Islamic State (IS) group and the Afghan Taliban militants, operate in the area.

In May, explosions had ripped through the Afghan provincial capital, killing three people and wounding another 20. No one had claimed responsibility for this attack either.

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