Death toll rises to 21 in Pakistan attack
PESHAWAR: The death toll from a car bomb attack on a marketplace in northwestern Pakistan has risen to 21, officials said yesterday.
The bomb exploded on Monday in Jamrud, part of the tribal district of Khyber, close to where passengers were waiting to catch buses across the country.
“Four more people died of their wounds at the Hayatabad Medical Complex overnight, raising the death toll in the attack to 21,” Doctor Sohail Ahmad said.
Khyber district is part of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border where the Taliban and other al Qaeda linked groups have strongholds. Local administration official Jehangir Azam confirmed the new toll and said 43 people were still being treated for injuries.
Iran consulate reopens in Afghanistan
DUBAI: Iran has reopened its consulate in the Afghan city of Herat, a week after it was reported closed following anti-Iranian protests outside the compound, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
The demonstrators were protesting against the alleged killing of Afghan migrants by Iranian police, an assertion Tehran has denied. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Dec 11 that Iran had shut the consulate.
“Based on the request of Afghan officials and people, Iran’s consulate in Herat resumed its activities (Monday),” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. “The issue of the damage inflicted (on the consulate) is being pursued.”
On Sunday, the Iranian consul general to Herat, Rahim Mohammadi Yekta, said Tehran was demanding the Afghan government compensate it for damage to the compound, the Iranian official English-language Press TV reported.
Agencies
