Three people were injured as an improvised explosive device (IED) went off outside the Pakistan Consulate General in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, said Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal in a tweet on Sunday.
“A policeman, along with two applicants, was injured as the blast took place outside the holding area of the compound,” the FO spokesperson said.
IED exploded outside holding area of our Consulate General in Jalalabad. All Pakistani staff are safe. 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
— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) August 25, 2019
“We are in contact with Afghan authorities to ensure strengthened security for Consulate General’s premises and personnel,” he added.
On January 27, Pakistan had closed its consulate in Afghanistan’s city of Mazar-e-Sharif after a woman tried to take a hand grenade inside the building.
The consulate had been shut down by the officials until the provision of bombproof security by the Afghan officials. The visa service was also suspended after the incident.
“Pakistan Consulate General in Mazar-e-Sharif was closed today because an Afghan woman was caught trying to bring a hand grenade into the consulate in her personal bag,” FO had said in a statement.
“The Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul has urged the Afghan Foreign Office to provide foolproof security to its consulate general in Mazar-e-Sharif and to share findings of its investigation at the earliest,” the statement had added.
The embassy had said that the consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif was closed for visa services until provision was made “of fool-proof security by the authorities in Mazar-e-Sharif to prevent any untoward incident in the Consulate General”.
The foreign ministry, in a statement, had urged the Afghan government to ensure security of Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Pakistan had also demanded an inquiry into the matter and had told the authorities to inform the Pakistani counterpart in a timely manner about the actions taken.