An Afghan man kisses his daughter as he walks near an attack from a building close to the Pakistan consulate in Jalalabad on January 13, 2016. …AFP / Noorullah Shirzada
Islamic State posted a statement on social media site today accepting responsibility for an attack on the Pakistani consulate, Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The assault claimed the lives of 7 members of the Afghan Security Forces and injured 7 others. The Tajrobawee Girls School nearby had to be evacuated with parents carrying their children to safety. BBC reported,
“the gunmen barricaded themselves in a house after a suicide attack on the consulate compound in the city.
Witnesses reported heavy gunfire and explosions. Reports say all the gunmen were killed.”
Islamic State (known as Wilayat Khorasan) in the region of Afghanistan, Pakistan first emerged in the summer of 2014 when former Taliban defected to join the group, see following link,
“Are IS gaining a foothold in AfPak? New video release shows some allegiance in the region”
IS statement reads as follows,
Not everyone was convinced,
Borhan Osman, researcher with Afghanistan Analysts Network tweeted,
Those claiming the #JalalabadAttack on behalf of IS Khorasan have given too little details to make their claim convincing.
The foreign affairs ministry, Islamabad condemned “the terrorist attack” and requested a thorough investigation. The Guardian reported, “one official at the consulate was slightly injured by broken glass” according to the statement.
This attack follows closely on from an incident in early January in the vicinity of the Indian consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, see following article for more details,
“Gun battle near Indian mission in Mazar-e-Sharif”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35298019
Carol Anne Grayson is an independent writer/researcher on global health/human rights/WOT and is Executive Producer of the Oscar nominated, Incident in New Baghdad. She is a Registered Mental Nurse with a Masters in Gender Culture and Development. Carol was awarded the ESRC, Michael Young Prize for Research 2009, and the COTT ‘Action = Life’ Human Rights Award’ for “upholding truth and justice”. She is also a survivor of US “collateral damage
Carol Anne Grayson (Radical Sister) blog 