Pak consulate attack: IS claims responsibility

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Pakistani consulate in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, which Afghan officials said left at least seven members of the security forces dead.

In a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, US monitors of militant groups, the "Khorasan Province of the Islamic State" said three of its "soldiers" attacked the consulate in Jalalabad, capital of the volatile province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. It claimed to have killed "dozens" of consulate staff.

Afghan officials said seven members of the security forces were killed in the attack.

Attaullah Khyogani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said another seven people were injured during the attack, which began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the consulate in Jalalabad and ended with a gun battle between Afghan security forces and militants.

He said that three attackers were killed, including the one who had detonated explosives on his body at around 9 am.

The siege ended when the two gunmen, who had taken position in a guesthouse close to the consulate, were killed at around 12.30 pm, Khyogani said. The scene of the attack is close to a hospital and schools as well as the Indian consulate.