Pakistani diplomat laid to rest in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The body of Pakistan consulate staffer who was killed in Jalalabad city in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province was brought on Tuesday to Torkham border where Afghan officials handed it over to the Pakistani authorities.

Pakistani border officials said that the deceased employee, Nayyar Iqbal Rana, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Jalalabad on Monday.

Later, Nayyar Iqbal was laid to rest in a graveyard in Islamabad’s H-8 area.

Prominent personalities, including Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, attended the funeral prayers.

Nayyar Iqbal Rana, 52, was fired at in front of his home when he was on his way to the Pakistani consulate general in Jalalabad to attend office.

Afghan authorities brought the coffin of the slain official to the Torkham border at 9:30am and handed it over to Pakistani security forces officials. 

The body of Nayyar Iqbal Rana was covered in Pakistan’s national flag.

Later, the body was handed over to the Foreign Office’s Protocol Officer, Mr Rahim at Torkham. 

The Afghan government says this murderous attack was an act of terror.

On Tuesday, Afghan National Security Adviser (NSA) Hanif Atmar made a telephone call to Gen (R) Nasser Janjua, his counterpart, and while condoling the death of Nayyar held out an assurance that his government would share with Pakistan the findings of the investigations.

“All those involved in the murder will be brought to justice,” Hanif Atmar was quoted in a statement.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua demanded from Kabul that there should be fool proof security for all Pakistani diplomats and missions in Afghanistan. The father of five children, Nayyar, belonging to Sialkot, had completed his three-year tenure in Afghanistan and was preparing to return home, before he was gunned down on Monday. 

Tehmina Janjua had summoned the Afghan Charge d’Affaires to the Foreign Office, where she lodged a strong protest against this heinous act.

“The foreign secretary demanded that the perpetrators of this act of violence should be apprehended and brought to justice, while asking for fool proof security for Pakistani diplomats and missions in Afghanistan,” spokesman at the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Reuters adds: The Khyber Pass border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was closed to all traffic on Tuesday for the return of a Pakistani diplomat Nayyar Iqbal Rana who was shot dead in Afghanistan by unknown gunmen.

“The Pakistan-Afghanistan border was closed for all types of traffic,” a government official in Torkham who asked not to be identified told Reuters.