The Foreign Office (FO) on Monday said it was in “active contact” with Afghan authorities regarding the investigation into the assassination attempt on Pakistan’s Head of Mission in Kabul after the interim Afghanistan government said the alleged attacker was arrested, Aaj News reported.
The development comes days after Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul came under attack, with its Chargé d’Affaires (CdA) to Afghanistan Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani targeted. The FO said Nizamani remained unhurt but his guard received three bullets.
On Sunday, the Islamic State group’s Khorasan chapter (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack. Subsequently, the FO said it was verifying the veracity of the claim.
Earlier on Monday, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that they had arrested a foreign member of the Islamic State (IS) group in connection with the attack.
“This person is a citizen of a foreign country and a member of IS,” he tweeted.
“The investigation revealed that this attack was jointly organised by IS and rebels. Some foreign malicious circles are behind the attack and the aim was to create distrust between the two brotherly countries," Mujahid added.
Responding to the Afghan spokesperson's tweet, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the investigation was ongoing and the government was following developments.
“We also remain in active contact with the concerned Afghan authorities on the matter,” she said.
"We are confident that the terrorist attack targeting our Head of Mission in Kabul will be fully investigated and the perpetrators and their abettors will be brought to account."
Baloch added that Pakistan remained resolute in its commitment to fight the scourge of terrorism.