NANGARHAR, Jan. 13, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security forces inspect the blast site in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 13, 2016. At least seven people, including four police personnel, were killed in an attack near the Pakistani consulate in eastern Afghan town of Jalalabad on Wednesday, sources and witnesses said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Safi/IANS)
Kabul, Jan 13 (IANS) At least six policemen were killed on Wednesday in a terror attack apparently targeted at the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad city in Afghanistan, media reports said.
Afghan security forces battled gunmen barricaded in a house near the consulate, which the attackers had apparently tried to enter, a Pakistani news report said.
Xinhua news agency reported earlier that a blast took place near the Pakistani consulate, located in an area which is also home to the Indian and Iranian consulates as well as a private school.
"The bomb attack targeted a police vehicle near the Pakistani consulate," a security source told Xinhua.
But a report in Dawn online newspaper said the fighting erupted near the Pakistani consulate after a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing as many as six people.
It quoted a security source as telling Afghanistan's Tolo News that the suicide bomber, who pretended to be a visa seeker, detonated himself after being prevented from entering the consulate.
"Officials said three attackers are inside the consulate and a gun battle between security forces and attackers is ongoing."
The blast comes 10 days after a terror attack near the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif city.
