Pakistani Consulate Attacked by ISS in Afghanistan

Pakistani Consulate Attacked by ISS in Afghanistan

13-01-2016

JALALABAD, Afghanistan — Islamic State militants in Afghanistan claimed their first attack on a major city on Wednesday, after an assault near the Pakistani Consulate in Jalalabad that killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces.

The claim, posted on the Telegram channel used by the Islamic State’s central command to announce attacks, was a sign that the main group in Syria and Iraq is increasingly willing to tout its Afghan affiliate as a supported group, even as officials say the level of coordination and contact remains limited.

The attack in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province, has also furthered concerns that militants who have broken away from the Taliban and claimed loyalty to the Islamic State were ready to start spreading their brutal campaign into urban areas. The Islamic State cell has fought both the Taliban and the government in Nangarhar over the past year, carving out an ever-bigger area of control, officials say.