Foreign Islamic State militant arrested for Pakistan embassy attack
Kabul, Dec 5 (EFE).- The de facto Taliban government on Monday claimed to have arrested a suspected foreign Islamic State militant involved in an assassination attempt on Pakistan’s diplomat in Afghanistan last week.
“(The arrested) person is a citizen of a foreign country and a member of the Islamic State (group),” Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Mujahid said a preliminary probe has revealed that the attack was organized jointly by the Islamic State and rebels of some foreign groups.
“The aim was to create distrust between the two brotherly countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the spokesperson tweeted.
The global militant network had already claimed the assassination bid on the head of Pakistan’s Afghan mission, Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani.
The envoy escaped unhurt in the attack on Friday.
A statement from the network’s South Asian branch Saturday said two fighters “attacked the apostate Pakistani ambassador and his guards” in the Kabul embassy courtyard.
Pakistan has denounced the attack.
Pakistan called on the de facto Taliban government, in power since August last year, to “immediately” investigate the attack, apprehend the culprits and take “urgent steps” to ensure the safety of diplomatic personnel in Kabul.
The attack in which at least one person was wounded triggered global condemnations.
The United Nations Security Council said it asked all relevant parties to respect and ensure the safety and security of diplomatic and consular premises.
“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers, and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,” a UNSC statement said.
“They urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities.”
Kabul was the scene of another high-profile failed attack on Friday.
Two suicide attackers in an explosives-laden vehicle attempted to target Islamic leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, also known as “the Butcher of Kabul,” who was at a mosque in his office compound to deliver a sermon.
The assailants were shot by security forces before the attack.
A security guard was killed in the gunfire.
The embassy attack occurred the same week that Pakistani deputy foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited Kabul as the first official envoy to Afghanistan of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government for talks with Islamists on crucial security issues. EFE
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