Pakistan 'verifying reports' over IS-K claiming attack on Kabul embassy

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Sunday it was "verifying the reports" claiming that the banned outfit Islamic State-Khorasan chapter (IS-K) carried out the terrorist attack on Pakistan’s mission in Afghanistan.

"We have seen reports that IS-KP has accepted responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Embassy compound on 2 December 2022," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. "Independently and in consultation with the Afghan authorities, we are verifying the veracity of these reports.

It added that the attack was “another reminder of the threat that terrorism poses to peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region”.

“We must act resolutely with all our collective might to defeat this menace. On its part, Pakistan remains steadfast in its commitment to combat terrorism,” he added.

The FO's statement comes after it was reported that the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul, which Islamabad decried as an "assassination attempt".

A security guard was wounded in the attack on Friday in the Afghan capital.

In a statement cited by militants monitor SITE, the Islamic State's regional chapter said it had "attacked the apostate Pakistani ambassador and his guards".

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called it "an assassination attempt" on the head of the mission, and demanded an investigation.

A Kabul police spokesman said one suspect had been arrested and two light weapons seized after security forces swept a nearby building.

Although Pakistan does not officially recognise Afghanistan's Taliban government, it kept its embassy open even as the militants took over in August last year, and maintains a full diplomatic mission.

An embassy official told AFP that a lone attacker "came behind the cover of houses and started firing", but that the ambassador and other staff were safe.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's foreign ministry said they strongly condemned the "failed attack".

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not allow any malicious actors to pose a threat to the security of diplomatic missions in Kabul," it said in a statement, vowing to find and punish those responsible.

Pakistan is home to more than a million Afghan refugees, and the porous border they share is frequently the scene of clashes.

Since returning to power, the Afghan Taliban have insisted they would not allow foreign militant groups to operate from home soil.