Troops fight gunmen near Indian consulate

Afghan special forces fought with insurgents barricaded in a house near the Indian consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Monday after an overnight attack that coincided with an assault on an Indian air base near the border with Pakistan.

A small group of gunmen tried unsuccessfully to break into the consulate late on Sunday, taking advantage of the fact that many people were watching the final of a football championship between Afghanistan and India.

They shut themselves into the house after failing to get into the consulate and battled security forces into the early hours of the morning. Troops were moving slowly to minimize civilian casualties, with operations also hampered by heavy rain.