Subhas Goswami, Director General, ITBP, issues a statement on the attack on the Indian consulate in Herat, Afghanistan.

"Today morning 3-4 militants attacked the Indian consulate in Herat, we shot one down, rest fled. We are very happy and proud that the ITBP managed to repulse the attack in Herat. Yes, all inside are safe. There were 23 ITBP personnel under the command of Inspector Manjit Singh, attack repulsed."

The assault, which began at 3.25 am went on for several hours. The local police was quoted as saying that three gunmen opened fire on the consulate from a nearby home with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted, "India's Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan attacked. Brave ITBP personnel and Afghan soldiers rebut attackers. All safe. Operation underway."

He added, "India-Afghanistan officials in touch on attack on India's Consulate in Herat. Foreign Secy Sujatha Singh monitoring situation. All safe."