Firing still in progress around Indian Consulate in Afghanistan
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Firing still in progress around Indian Consulate in Afghanistan - Video
KABUL, Afghanistan Gunmen armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Indian Consulate in western Afghanistan's Herat province Friday, an assault that injured no diplomatic staff, police said.
The three gunmen opened fire on the consulate from a nearby home, provincial police chief Abdul Sami Qatra said. Police killed two of the three gunmen, though one continued to fire on security forces trying to secure the area, Qatra said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Afghanistan is experience a rise in insurgent attacks as foreign troops plan to withdraw from the country by the end of the year.
Herat lies near Afghanistan's border with Iran and is considered one of the safer cities in the country, with a strong Iranian influence. In September 2013, Taliban gunmen launched a similar assault on the U.S. Embassy in the city, killing at least four Afghans but failing to enter the compound or hurt any Americans.
Foreign embassies and consulates remain a favorite target of insurgents in Afghanistan, but many are protected by high walls and multiple gates, as well as security forces.
India has invested more than $2 billion in Afghan projects, including roads and power projects. In August 2013, a botched bombing against the Indian Consulate in the Afghan city of Jalalabad near the border with Pakistan killed nine people, including six children. No Indian officials were hurt. Two attacks on the Indian Embassy in Kabul in 2008 and 2009 that killed 75 people.
Groups known for targeting Indian interests include Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people, and the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
Lashkar-e-Taiba has been active in Afghanistan in recent years, often teaming up with insurgent groups operating in the eastern part of the country near the frontier with Pakistan. In 2010, two Kabul guest houses popular among Indians were attacked, killing more than six Indians. India blamed that attack on the group.
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Gunmen open fire on Indian Consulate in Afghanistan
The two Marine Corps veterans hadnt seen each other since Afghanistan, and their reunion was mobbed by television cameras and reporters, so it was understandable if they seemed a little nervous.
Deano Miller, on two legs, welcomed Thor, on four, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Thursday. It was the culmination of a long effort by Miller to adopt the yellow Labrador, who had been his bomb-sniffing buddy during a 2010 tour of Afghanistan.
Thor was my everything in Afghanistan, Miller told The News Tribune of Tacoma during the reunion. He was the only thing that kept me going every day.
But Millers tour ended and he eventually returned to civilian life in his native Tacoma, while Thor continued on with other Marine handlers. Thor left Afghanistan last fall and flew in Thursday from North Carolina, KOMO reported.
The reunion was made possible by the American Humane Association and Mission K9 Rescue, which finds homes for retired military and police dogs.
Thor will join a household that includes two other dogs and Millers fiancee, Tomi Gallegos.
Marine veteran Deano Miller is reunited Thursday with Thor on Thursday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Wash.
First published May 22 2014, 7:49 PM
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Afghanistan Veterans Reunited After Years Apart
The two Marine Corps veterans hadnt seen each other since Afghanistan, and their reunion was mobbed by television cameras and reporters, so it was understandable if they seemed a little nervous.
Deano Miller, on two legs, welcomed Thor, on four, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Thursday. It was the culmination of a long effort by Miller to adopt the yellow Labrador, who had been his bomb-sniffing buddy during a 2010 tour of Afghanistan.
Thor was my everything in Afghanistan, Miller told The News Tribune of Tacoma during the reunion. He was the only thing that kept me going every day.
But Millers tour ended and he eventually returned to civilian life in his native Tacoma, while Thor continued on with other Marine handlers. Thor left Afghanistan last fall and flew in Thursday from North Carolina, KOMO reported.
The reunion was made possible by the American Humane Association and Mission K9 Rescue, which finds homes for retired military and police dogs.
Thor will join a household that includes two other dogs and Millers fiancee, Tomi Gallegos.
Marine veteran Deano Miller is reunited Thursday with Thor on Thursday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Wash.
First published May 22 2014, 7:49 PM
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Afghanistan Veteran Deano Miller and Thor Reunite After Years Apart
AFP Indian consulate in western Afghanistan attacked
Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP) - Four insurgent gunmen launched a pre-dawn attack on India's consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat on Friday before being repelled by security forces, in an assault highlighting instability as NATO troops withdraw.
There were no casualties among Indian staff but at least one policeman was wounded when the attackers stormed a house close to the consulate and opened fire on the building.
Afghanistan is in the middle of elections to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled since the fall of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
Pakistan was the Taliban's main ally and the Pakistani security forces have often been accused of assisting the insurgents, especially with attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan.
"Four Taliban attackers entered a residential house behind the consulate in the early morning," Mohammad Yousuf Pashtoon, commander of Herat's paramilitary Quick Reaction Force, told AFP.
"Security forces evacuated residents from the building and fought to clear the building."
The interior ministry said all the insurgents had been killed but sporadic gunfire continued at the scene.
India has been a key supporter of Kabul's post-Taliban government, and analysts have often pointed to the threat of a "proxy war" in Afghanistan between India and its arch-rival Pakistan.
The Pakistani government issued a swift condemnation of the attack, saying it was opposed to "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations".
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Indian consulate in western Afghanistan attacked