US condemns attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan

Washington, May 24: The US has condemned the attack on the Indian consulate in Herat and said America will keep working on the security situation with

as the war-torn nation transitions to a "different period".

The Indian consulate in western Afghanistan was attacked yesterday by four heavily-armed gunmen, who were subsequently killed in an encounter as India attributed the pre-dawn strike to terror elements "beyond the borders" of the war-torn country.

"We are concerned about these kind of situations, and we'll keep working with folks there on the security situation," State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf, told reporters yesterday.

Stating that she does not have much on who perpetrated this attack, Harf noted that the Indian and Afghan security forces performed courageously in stopping the attack. "I don't know what was behind the attack.

Harf: We are concerned about these kind of situations

Obviously, we've seen other horrific attacks like this in Afghanistan and believe that Afghanistan has a better path forward here, and we'll keep working with them on security," Harf said.

She however said, Afghanistan was absolutely a "tough place" to work. "We have people who serve there – both US officials and also private citizens – who do so like Indian citizens do, at risk, because they believe it's important," she said.

"So one thing we're focussed on is, even as we transition to a different period with our efforts in Afghanistan, to keep working on security, to keep trying to build Afghanistan's own capabilities to keep their own people and people working there secure. But it's absolutely a tough place to work," Harf said.

PTI