Dead body of Pakistani diplomat shifted to Peshawar via Torkham
Two assailants riding a motorbike opened fire on Nayyar Iqbal Rana in Afghanistan's city Jalalabad.
PESHAWAR (Web Desk) – The dead body of Nayyar Iqbal Rana, a Pakistani diplomatic official who was Monday shot and killed in Afghanistan, has been shifted to Peshawar via Torkham border on Tuesday.
The body was handed over to the political administration of Torkham and officials of Frontier Corps (FC) at the border. Strict security arrangements were ensured on the occasion, and the attendants prayed for the deceased.
The dead body was moved to Landi Kotal in an ambulance, and then to Peshawar. Pakistani officials have opened the Torkham border crossing for transportation.
Pakistan’s Condemnation
Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in their separate messages have strongly condemned this heinous act and extended their deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif in his message also condoled with the aggrieved family and denounced this tragic act of violence.
He urged the Afghan government to take urgent steps to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure the safety and security of Pakistan’s diplomatic personnel and its missions in Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned the Afghan Charge d’Affaires to the foreign office to lodge a strong protest against this heinous act and demanded that the perpetrators of this act of violence should be apprehended and brought to justice.
Assassination
Two assailants riding a motorbike opened fire on Nayyar Iqbal Rana, 52, at a shop in the eastern city of Jalalabad, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Zahid Nasrullah Khan told AFP.
"When he went to the hospital he was pronounced dead," Khan said.
Nangarhar governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed the deadly attack.
"Police have launched an investigation into the incident. No arrests have been made so far," Khogyani told AFP.
Rana was the assistant to the consul general in Jalalabad, the capital of restive Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.
The foreign ministry statement said Rana had finished "his three year tenure in Jalalabad and was due to return to Headquarters".
Khan said he had "absolutely no idea" why Rana, a father of five, was targeted.
Despite escalating violence across Afghanistan diplomats are rarely killed in the country where they are protected by very tight security.
The incident comes a few months after two Pakistani diplomats working at the same consulate in Jalalabad were kidnapped and later freed.
It also comes as relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan remain tense.
Kabul accuses Islamabad of supporting militant groups including the Taliban, believed to have links to Pakistan’s shadowy military establishment who aim to use them as a regional bulwark against arch-nemesis India.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied the charge.
With inputs from AFP
