No details were immediately available on any casualties or damage or on the number of attackers and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Muneer Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the Balkh province governor, said insurgents had hidden in a house near the consulate and struck after darkness fell. He said attackers had tried to enter the consulate but had so far not been able to. An Indian official said there had been no reports of Indian casualties so far and it was not certain that the consulate itself was the target of the attack. “Details are very sketchy at this point in time,” he said.
It came amid renewed efforts to reduce longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan and restart peace talks with the Afghan Taliban as part of a broader drive to improve stability in the region.