A senior Afghan police official said on Tuesday that Pakistani military personnel were involved in the January 3 attack on the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, in which an attempt was made to storm the mission building. “We saw with our own eyes, and I can say 99% that those attackers were from Pakistani military and used special tactics while conducting their operation,” Sayed Kamal Sadat, police chief of the Balkh province, said of the attack that took place last week, according to PTI.
Sadat said the attackers – officers from across the border – were well-trained military men who fought Afghan security forces in the 25-hour siege, which also involved personnel from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. "They were educated and well prepared and had intelligence," Sadat was quoted as saying by Tolo News.
The Indian Express had quoted Afghan police officials as saying that the terrorists left behind graffiti written in their own blood. It said their mission was to avenge Afzal Guru, who was hanged in 2013 for his involvement in the attack on the Indian parliament in 2000. The standoff ended on the night of January 4 after the attackers who entered the building opposite the Indian Consulate were killed. One police officer also died and nine others, including three civilians, were injured.
The revelation comes with India-Pakistan ties under the scanner in the aftermath of the terror attack on the Pathankot air base near the border.
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