New Delhi, July 11: Government today rubbished a Pakistani media report which claimed that six Indians had been killed in a terror attack in Afghanistan.
Sources in the External Affairs Ministry said that no Indian was killed in any attack anywhere in Afghanistan.
“We checked up and found that this report is untrue,” a source in the ministry said.
Pakistan’s leading News TV channel had last night claimed that six Indians were among 18 killed in an attack by Taliban in Paktia province of Afghanistan.
On earlier occasions too Pakistani media had issued such reports which India feels are part of malicious campaign to scare away Indians engaged in reconstruction and development works in Afghanistan.
The channel aired a video of the attack that it said was provided by the Taliban. The grainy footage featured several men armed with AK-47s and rocket launchers firing at a target that was not shown. The low-resolution footage also showed an explosion and flames erupting as the men continued firing.
The Taliban spokesman purportedly told the channel that the Indian firm, described as the subsidiary of an American company, was attacked because it was a “centre of anti-Islamic activities”. The firm was building a USAID-funded road between Khost and Paktia provinces.
The Taliban also reportedly distributed pamphlets in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, which warned the militants would carry out more attacks on Indian firms “involved in anti-Islamic activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the channel said.
—Agencies