PESHAWAR: The local franchise of an ultra-violent Middle Eastern terrorist group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of a Pakistani diplomatic corps member in eastern Afghanistan.
The Khorasan chapter of the Islamic State (IS), also known by its Arabic acronym Da’ish, claimed credit for the murder of Rana Nayyar Iqbal in an Arabic-language message released on its website, Aimaq.
Iqbal, who worked in the visa section of the Pakistan Consulate General in Jalalabad, was shot multiple times outside his residence on Monday evening.
He died before he could be transported to hospital.
Earlier today, his body was handed over to Pakistani security officials at the Torkham border crossing from where it was taken to Islamabad for final rites.
In July, two officials of the Pakistani Consulate General in Jalalabad went missing while returning to their home country by road. They were later rescued.
Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar, is a busy trading hub about 70 kilometres from the main border crossing with Pakistan, from which landlocked Afghanistan imports much of its goods.
Clear indication India and certain elements in Afghanistan are arming and funding Daesh.
US should realise the mess Afghanistan is. It needs to end this through peaceful reconciliation with genuine brokers involved not prolong it.
Prolonging it only benefits India and a corrupt Afghan government and intelligence service made up of remnants of the Northern Alliance.