KABUL, March 26: Afghanistan’s foreign ministry summoned the Pakistani ambassador on Sunday over an attack on its consulate in Quetta during a protest against the killing of 16 men by Afghan security forces. The ministry ‘strongly condemned’ the Saturday attack on the consulate, spokesman Naveed Moez said.

He said Pakistan was asked “to take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the embassy, the consulate and other missions of the government of Afghanistan and their personnel in Pakistan and prevent the occurrence of such attacks again”.

About 450 protesters hurled stones at the consulate, chanted slogans against President Hamid Karzai and tore a picture of him from the gate before being dispersed by police, witnesses said.

Pakistan has protested to Afghanistan over the killing of 16 nationals on Tuesday in Afghanistan’s border district of Spin Boldak.

Kabul said the dead were Taliban militants who crossed the frontier from Pakistan, but Islamabad said they were Pakistani tribesmen on their way to celebrate the Afghan new year.—AFP