#Jalalabad Blast Visuals (Picture Source: Afghan Media) https://t.co/dqkX62yoLV — ANI (@ANI_news) 1456906034000

Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Jalalabad attacked, MEA says all Indians safe

JALALABAD: Afghanistan and Indian security forces here on Wednesday killed four suicide bombers who tried to attack the Indian consulate wounding at least six people, officials said.A bomb in a car driven by one of the terrorists was detonated near the Indian consulate, shattering doors and windows and destroying at least eight other cars, even as explosions and gunfire rocked the area, witnesses said."Their target was the Indian consulate, but our forces shot and killed them all before they reached their target," said Attahullah Khugyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup said no consulate staff members were injured.The head of the public health department in Nangarhar said at least six people had been wounded in the attack. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar It faces an emerging threat from loyalists of the Islamic State group, which controls territory across Syria and Iraq and is making gradual inroads in Afghanistan — challenging the Taliban on their own turf.No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the ongoing assault. India's consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif was also attacked by insurgents in January.The area, also home to other diplomatic missions, has repeatedly come under attack in recent months.In January, Islamic State jihadists claimed responsibility for a deadly gun and bomb siege targeting the nearby Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, the first major attack by the group in an Afghan city.