Taliban insurgents attack U.S. consulate in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have attacked the U.S. consulate in the western city of Herat.

According to BBC News, the Taliban a suicide bomber had detonated explosives outside the building before dawn on Friday, Sept 13.

Other fighters then opened fire on the consulate. Several Afghan police are reported to have been killed and injured in the gun battle.

It is the latest in a series of attacks ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

An Afghan army spokesman told the BBC that the initial explosion had damaged outer defenses of the U.S. consulate, allowing the attackers to breach the perimeter and shoot at the consulate buildings. The bomb had been placed in a vehicle.

"A truck carrying attackers drove to the front gate, and attackers, possibly firing rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, commenced attacking Afghan Protective forces on the exterior of the gates," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

"Shortly after, the entire truck exploded, extensively damaging the front gate [to the consulate]," she added.

The gunfire continued for some time, reporters at the scene said.

According to the Associated Press, footage broadcast on Afghanistan's Tolo television network showed Afghan police dragging away a badly bloodied person from the scene – it was unclear if he was dead or who he was. Rubble and twisted pieces of metal lay strewn in a seemingly wide area near the consulate, the footage showed.

Gen. Rahmatullah Safi, chief of police in Herat province, initially said an Afghan translator who apparently worked for the consulate died in the attack, but later said that victim was more likely a private security guard working at the compound. An Afghan police officer also was killed, while an unclear number of police, guards and civilians were wounded.

Safi said four militants were killed during the assault, as was the suicide car bomber, but the situation was under control around an hour after the start of the attack.

Robert Hilton, a U.S. Embassy spokesman, said he had no information about a translator among the victims and that "all consulate personnel are safe and accounted for."

Herat, close to the Iranian border, has been relatively peaceful in recent years.

Earlier this month Taliban targeted the Torkham U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a lengthy gun battle in which three insurgents were killed.