KABUL Nov 08 (TNS): Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday condemned the killing of Pakistan consulate staffer, Rana Nayyar Iqbal, in Jalalabad on Monday and ordered law enforcement authorities to investigate the incident.
In a statement issued by the Presidential Palace, President Ghani asked the security institutions to ascertain the group responsible for the attack. The statement said the government is responsible for ensuring the safety of foreign diplomatic staff and said security institutions need to take this seriously.
Meanwhile, National security advisor Haneef Atmar in a tweet mentioned that he had spoken with National Security Advisor of Pakistan General (retd) Nasir Janjua and offered his condolences.
He said on Twitter, “terrorists are enemies of both nations, thus needs joint, well-coordinated and realistic efforts to eliminate them.”
Iqbal, who worked in the Pakistan consulate’s visa section, was shot on Monday evening in the Nangarhar capital in eastern Afghanistan. The body of the 62-year-old diplomatic staffer was transferred to Islamabad on Tuesday.
Daesh has reportedly claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Earlier, Pakistan’s foreign secretary also summoned Afghan charge d’affaires to the Foreign Office and lodged a strong protest with him over the killing. The Afghan charge d’affaires was also handed a protest note.
The incident comes a few months after two Pakistani diplomats working at the same consulate in Jalalabad were kidnapped and later freed.
Earlier in January 2016, Daesh claimed a suicide attack on the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, with a gunbattle which lasted several hours.
Afghan officials had said all three attackers and at least seven members of the security forces died during the attack
The attack, which came amid efforts to restart the stalled peace process with the Taliban, resembled similar assaults on diplomatic missions in the country.
