ISLAMABAD/LANDI KOTAL: A member of the Pakistani diplomatic staff in Afghanistan who was shot dead in Jalalabad on Monday was laid to rest at the capital’s H-8 graveyard on Tuesday.

Two men on a motorcycle opened fire on Nayyar Iqbal Rana when he was standing at a shop in Jalalabad.

Earlier in the morning, Afghan border authorities handed over Mr Rana’s body to Pakistani officials at the Torkham border.

Khyber Rifles Comman­dant Colonel Farrukh Humayun and other officials received the body at the border when it was brought there from Jalalabad. FC and Khasadar personnel at the Torkham border presented a guard of honour.

The Torkham border crossing remained closed for other activities when the body was being handed over to Pakistani officials.

Pakistan has demanded that the Afghan government investigate the killing of Mr Rana and asked it to provide foolproof security to members of its diplomatic staff in Afghanistan.

Funeral prayers for Mr Rana were offered in Islamabad’s Sector G-7. A large number of civilian and government officials, including For­eign Minister Khawaja Asif, attended the funeral prayers.

A father of five, Mr Rana had been working as an assistant at Pakistan’s consulate in Jalalabad.

After offering funeral pray­ers, Foreign Office Spokes­man Dr Mohammad Faisal said that Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul had taken up the matter with the Afghan government.

After receiving the news of Mr Rana’s killing on Monday, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned the Afghan chargé d’affaires to the Foreign Office to lodge a protest on the murder.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2017