Blast Reported In Jalalabad, Afghanistan, Near Consulate Buildings Of India, Pakistan And Iran

A blast was reported Tuesday near the consulate buildings of India, Pakistan and Iran in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, a spokesman for the provincial governor said, according to Reuters. The number of casualties and the target of the attack were unclear.

"The Indian Consulate was not the target," a source said, according to the Press Trust of India, adding that the explosion was not targeted at the Indian consulate. "Pakistan Consul General's house in Jalalabad was closer to the blast site than the Indian mission which was 400 meters away."

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which closely follows a standoff that began Sunday between police officials and gunmen holed up inside the Indian consulate in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. The standoff ended Monday night after all the three gunmen were killed and 10 people were injured, Hindustan Times, a local Indian newspaper, reported. Five of those injured were civilians caught in the crossfire.

Indian security officials are also battling to end a siege on an air base in Pathankot in the northern state of Punjab, which has already claimed the lives of seven Indian soldiers. It is not clear how many attackers were involved, but so far five gunmen have been killed by security forces since the attack on the air base Saturday.

This is a developing story.