Previous attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan

New Delhi, March 2: The attack on an Indian consulate in Afghanistan on Wednesday is the latest in a series of terror strikes targeting Indian interests in Afghanistan where New Delhi has made huge investments to rebuild the war-torn country.

Here is a list of previous attacks:

January 3, 2016 - A group of four terrorists attacked the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif injuring an Afghan civilian. The attackers firing from a nearby building wrote graffiti with blood on some walls, stating they intended to avenge the execution of Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri militant who was hanged in 2013 for his role in the 2001 Indian parliament attack. Photographs of the graffiti appeared in some newspapers with Afghan police confirming they were taken immediately after security forces stormed the building.

May 23, 2014 - Indian consulate in Herat, guarded by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Afghan security forces, was attacked by four heavily armed militants. No one in the consulate's staff was injured but the attackers were gunned down in retaliatory fire by the Indian and Afghan security forces.

August 3, 2013 - An explosive-laden vehicle with three suicide bombers hit the Indian consulate building in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. Nine civilians, including six children, were killed in the attack. However, no Indian official was injured.

February 26, 2010 - Nine Indians, including army, ITBP personnel and doctors, were among at least 18 people killed in the bomb and gun attack at the Arya Guesthouse, also known as Hamid Guesthouse, and the Park Residence hotel, located in the Shar-e-Naw neighbourhood of Kabul. The guesthouse has been popular among Indian doctors in the Afghan capital.

October 8, 2009 - A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle packed with exploses near the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 17 Afghan civilians and injuring scores. Some Indians were injured in the bombing that blew out the doors and windows at the embassy. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

July 7, 2008 - At least 58 people were killed and some 140 were injured in the suicide car bombing outside the Indian embassy in Kabul. The attack was allegedly planned by Pakistan's ISI and executed by its Afghanistan-based syndicate, the Haqqani Network. Pakistan, however, denied any involvement in the attack. A day later, a bomb was found on a bus that carried 12 Indian workers of the Border Roads Organization in Zaranj.

IANS