A SECURITY guard was wounded today by shots fired at Pakistan’s embassy in the Afghan capital in what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called “an assassination attempt” on the head of the mission.

“I demand immediate investigation & action against perpetrators of this heinous act,” Sharif tweeted.

Although Pakistan does not officially recognise Afghanistan’s Taliban government, it kept its embassy open even as the hardline Islamists took over in August last year, and maintains a full diplomatic mission.

Pakistan has complicated relations with the Taliban, with Islamabad long accused of supporting the Islamists even while backing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan that toppled them following the 9/11 attacks.

An embassy official told AFP a lone attacker “came behind the cover of houses and started firing”.

“The ambassador and all the other staff are safe, but we are not going outside of the embassy building as a precaution,” he said.

Taliban security officials were not immediately available for comment. – AFP,  December 2, 2022.