US consulate in Afghanistan attacked after anniversary of 9/11 by Taliban, 3 dead
A huge explosion rocked the area near the U.S. consulate in Afghanistan’s Herat province early Friday during a heavy gunfight between militants and security forces, officials said.
The attackers sped towards the front gate of the consulate, and then fired rifles starting a gun battle with Afghan security forces said Marie Harf, a deputy State Department spokeswoman.
US forces responded as seven attackers traveling in two vehicles took part in the assault and all of them were killed, said Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, deputy Afghan Interior Minister.
Three people, two local police officers and a local security guard, were killed, police and hospital officials said. Twenty others were injured. There were no U.S. casualties.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail to CNN.
U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham in a statement condemned the attack and lamented the Afghan citizens who lost their lives.
“Many Afghan civilians were killed in the attack, along with others who work for the Consulate as contractors. We are deeply saddened by this senseless loss of life,” he said.
Violence in Afhganistan continues. Screenshot of video coverage of blast in Afghanistan killing 5 Americans earlier in 2013
