Several Dead After Blast Rocks German Consulate in Afghanistan

The image is used for representational purposes. (Photo: AP)

Militants rammed at least one car packed with explosives into a wall surrounding the German consulate in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on Thursday, killing several civilians and wounding scores of others, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for NATO air strikes against a village near the northern city of Kunduz last week in which more than 30 people were killed.

Witnesses reported sporadic gunfire from around the consulate and said the huge blast had shattered windows in a wide area around the compound.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Conflict)

A NATO spokesman said the explosion had caused "massive damage" to the building, where around 30 people normally worked and heavily armed gunmen had followed up the blast.

Sayed Kamal Sadat, police chief of Balkh province said several civilians had been killed and dozens wounded by flying glass from the explosion but consular staff were unharmed.

A German foreign ministry spokesman said the attack had been suppressed by Afghan and German security personnel as well as NATO special forces.

“All German employees of the Consulate General are safe and uninjured,” a spokesman from the German foreign ministry said, adding that it was not yet known how many Afghan civilians and security personnel were killed or injured.

The attack highlighted the security problems spreading across Afghanistan in recent months, with heavy fighting in areas from the volatile southern province of Helmand to Kunduz in the far north.