KARACHI (Reuters) - An Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday by a guard at the Afghan consulate in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi in a personal dispute, officials said.

The consulate’s third secretary was killed by the consulate guard, also an Afghan national, who had been arrested, police official Saqib Ismail told Reuters.

“The guard used his automatic weapon, firing multiple bullets,” Ismail said.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry issued a statement identifying the murdered diplomat as Muhammad Zaki Abdu.

“Police authorities immediately intervened to minimize further loss of life,” read the statement.

Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal described the shooting on his official Facebook account.

“Firing inside Afg Consulate General in Karachi at around 12:30 pm today ... has been carried out by an Afghan guard inside the compound resulting in fatality of one of our diplomats,” he wrote.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Azad Khan told Reuters: “So far, from what we have gathered from investigation, the killing seems to be the result of some sort of personal grudge between the guard and third secretary. We have found there was a history of tensions between the two persons.”</s>"In delivering justice to Osama bin Laden and many other al Qaeda leaders, we are closer than ever to defeating al Qaeda and its murderous network," Obama said in a statement.

A U.S. drone strike a week ago killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a militant American-born propagandist viewed as "chief of operations" for al Qaeda in Yemen. That was the latest killing of top al Qaeda officials since the shooting of bin Laden at his hide-out in Pakistan in May.

The United States and its allies launched the Afghan war on October 7, 2001, to topple the Taliban government sheltering the al Qaeda leadership responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Covert U.S. strikes against militants have grown significantly under Obama, particularly in the lawless region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, marking a U.S. policy success compared with mixed results from the wider war.

Obama acknowledged "enormous challenges that remain in Afghanistan" -- alluding to violence in which nearly 1,800 U.S. personnel have died, assassinations of government figures and deep corruption -- but still he claimed progress.

"We've pushed the Taliban out of its key strongholds, Afghan security forces are growing stronger, and the Afghan people have a new chance to forge their own future," he said.

Washington's war strategy has been complicated by Pakistan, which Obama said during a White House news conference on Thursday had resisted cutting ties with "unsavory characters" as it hedged its bets on Afghanistan's future.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said the U.S. strategy had suffered setbacks and successes in Afghanistan but the president's prime goal to "disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat al Qaeda" was on track.

NATO, which now heads the Afghan mission, says the overall security situation in Afghanistan has improved and Taliban attacks have declined. But dangers remain.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, himself the target of a recent assassination plot, acknowledged in a BBC interview on Friday his government and its foreign backers had failed to provide security to ordinary Afghans.

Violence has mounted, with the U.S. embassy in Kabul attacked by militants last month and former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was leading negotiations with militants to end the war, was killed at home on September 20.

The United States will withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by year-end and 23,000 more by next summer, as the United States and its NATO allies work toward handing over security to full Afghan control by the end of 2014.

"After a difficult decade, we are responsibly ending today's wars from a position of strength," Obama said.</s>Kabul: At least 19 people were killed and 41 wounded on Tuesday in asuicide blast at Afghanistan’s Supreme Court in Kabul sources said.

A suicide bomber on foot detonated as employees were boarding a bus to go home in the parking lot of the court compound, located on the road leading from the international airport to the US embassy, interior ministry spokesman Najibullah Danish said.

On February 6, an Afghan diplomat was killed allegedly by a security guard who opened fire inside the Afghanistan Consulate in Karachi.</s>Pakistan is seen as critical to bringing peace to neighboring Afghanistan, but the United States has failed to persuade it to go after militant groups it says cross the border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan.

"This is not helping either the United States, Afghanistan or Pakistan," Salim Saifullah, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.

"There will be pressure on the (Pakistan) government to get out of this war," he said, referring to the U.S. war on militancy.

Obama warned Pakistan Thursday that its ties with "unsavory characters" had put relations with the United States at risk, as he ratcheted up pressure on Islamabad to cut links with militants mounting attacks in Afghanistan.

His comments are likely to deepen a crisis in the strategic alliance between the United States and Pakistan.

Obama accused Pakistan's leaders of "hedging their bets" on Afghanistan's future, but stopped short of threatening to cut off U.S. aid, despite calls from lawmakers for a tougher line over accusations that Pakistani intelligence supported strikes on U.S. targets in Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it has sacrificed more than any other nation that joined America's global "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, losing 10,000 soldiers and security forces, and 30,000 civilians.

But its performance against militants operating from its unruly tribal northwest border region is a frequent source of tension between Washington and Islamabad.

Pakistan is often accused of playing a double game, vowing to help the United States fight some militant groups while using others as proxies in Afghanistan.

Ties were heavily damaged after U.S. special forces launched a secret raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, which Islamabad saw as a violation of its sovereignty.

Thursday, a Pakistani commission said a Pakistani doctor accused of running a vaccination program that helped the CIA track down bin Laden should be tried for high treason, which is punishable by death.

Relations deteriorated further after the top U.S. military official accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency of supporting a September 13 attack by the Taliban-allied Haqqani militant group on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.

Saifullah said Washington's public criticism of Pakistan would only encourage militant groups.

"War in Afghanistan is passing through a critical phase, evolutionary phase," he said. "At this stage, muddying water is not appropriate. This is exactly what the militants want. They are playing to their tune. This is adding strength to them."

Some analysts agree with his assessment.

"This will create more tension and what the Americans want is not likely to happen in the near future," said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.

The United States has long called for a military offensive against the Haqqani network, which it says is based in North Waziristan, a global hub for militants on the Afghan border.

Pakistan sees the Haqqani network -- perhaps the most feared insurgents in Afghanistan -- as a counterweight to the growing influence of rival India there, analysts say.

Pakistan denies links to the group, which says it no longer operates from sanctuaries in North Waziristan.

Obama made clear that future U.S.-Pakistani relations would depend heavily on whether Islamabad complies with Washington's demands to sever connections with insurgents.

Mahmud Ali Durrani, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, wondered if the two sides could ever repair ties.

"There are too many issues, and too much mistrust to call this a strategic relationship," he said.

But public demands from Washington will make Islamabad more reluctant to take action because caving in after constant pressure could be political suicide in a country where anti-American sentiment runs high, and the government is unpopular.

Many Pakistanis believe they have been dragged into a war against militancy that only serves American interests.

That sentiment is growing because of an escalation of U.S. drone aircraft missile strikes against militants in Pakistan under the Obama administration.

"Are we owned by the United States? If so, please make our terms of servitude clear, Mr. Obama, so we can just get on with it," said Mishayl Naek, a bank employee in the city of Karachi, in reaction to the U.S. president's demands of Pakistan.

For Asad Ali Bangash, 45, Obama's comments were proof of what he has feared all along.

"America wants an excuse to invade Pakistan. There are difficult times ahead for Pakistan, because America has decided that Pakistan has to be eliminated because it is a fort of Islam," said Bangash, who runs a medical supply business.

Obama wants to stabilize Afghanistan as U.S. forces are drawn down with the goal of ending their combat mission by 2014.

Instead of public confrontation, Obama should work more closely with Pakistan to help Afghanistan, said Saifullah.

"This is no time for this kind of (allegation) when they are pulling out," he said. "They should be seriously working on the endgame."

Even if Pakistan wanted to eliminate the Haqqanis, an assault could be risky. The group, which says it has more than 10,000 fighters, spent years forming alliances with various militant groups seeking to topple the U.S.-backed government.

The Haqqanis' ties with powerful tribes are another concern. Intelligence officials say Pakistan fears an assault would provoke a larger tribal uprising in North Waziristan.</s>An Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday by a guard at the Afghan consulate in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi in a personal dispute, officials said. A policeman walks past a police vehicle parked to cordon a street leading to the Afghan consulate in Karachi, after an Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday in the consulate, Pakistan February 6, 2017.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Channelnewsasia.com.</s>A policeman walks past a police vehicle parked to cordon a street leading to the Afghan consulate in Karachi, after an Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday in the consulate, Pakistan February 6, 2017.

Karachi: An Afghan diplomat was shot dead by the security guard inside the premises of the Consulate General of Afghanistan in Karachi on Monday.

According to police official, Zaki Adu, the third secretary at the Consulate was shot by the consulate guard Hayatullah, who is also an Afghan national.

Police and Rangers have cordoned off the area of Old Clifton which houses foreign missions in Karachi. Police said that guard, Hayatullah, opened fire on at Zaki in the lobby of the consulate after a personal disagreement on some issue which is still unknown.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Karachi, Azad Khan said that the situation is under control. He told a local television channel that the incident did not appear to be an act of terrorism.

"We are collecting evidence and will obtain CCTV footage in order to investigate the incident," he said.</s>KARACHI: An Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday in the Afghan consulate in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, a police official said.

The consulate's third secretary was killed by a private guard, who has been arrested, said police official Saqib Ismail.

"The motive behind the killing is not clear yet," Ismail said, adding that the gunman was also an Afghan national.</s>An Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday in the Afghan consulate in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi in what was described as a personal dispute, Pakistani officials said. The consulate's third secretary was killed by a private guard, who had been arrested, police official Saqib Ismail told Reuters.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>KARACHI, Feb 6 (Reuters) - An Afghan diplomat was shot dead on Monday in the Afghan consulate in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, a police official said.

The consulate's third secretary was killed by a private guard, who has been arrested, said police official Saqib Ismail.

"The motive behind the killing is not clear yet," Ismail said, adding that the gunman was also an Afghan national. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)</s>KARACHI: The Third Secretary of the Afghan Consulate in the city was gunned down by a private security guard in the premises of the Afghan Consulate in the Old Clifton area here on Monday. The secretary, Muhammad Zaki Abduh, was shot dead in the area adjoining the Boat Basin Police Station.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Saqib Ismail Memon of District South said: “While acting on the information, the police mobiles rushed to the spot and took the victim to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Later, the police also took custody of the security guard Rahatullah.”

During the investigation, it was found that the deceased Muhammad Zaki Abduh was the third secretary of the Afghan Consulate, who was working here for the past few years. It was on Monday morning, when Zaki had a dispute with the security guard Rahat who pointed his G-3 rifle at Zaki and opened random fire, which killed the diplomat.

SSP Memon said that the deceased had received multiple bullet wounds on his upper torso, including chest, which became the cause of his death. The police had seized the murder weapon and also collected the spent bullet shells from the scene of the crime, which were sent to forensic division of the Sindh Police.

He added that the security guard Rahatullah was an Afghan national but did not possess diplomatic status and had come to Pakistan on normal visa. The SSP added that Rahatullah was hired by the Afghan Consulate for security duty. He mentioned that further screening of the accused was being carried out to ascertain the exact motive behind the murder. On the other hand, the SSP said that the murder might have been committed on enmity grounds. He said a case was reported and investigations were underway.

Afghan diplomat shot dead by guard at Karachi consulate was posted in Top Story of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on February 07, 2017 and was last updated on February 07, 2017. This news story is related to Print/184585-Afghan-diplomat-shot-dead-by-guard-at-Karachi-consulate/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Afghan diplomat shot dead by guard at Karachi consulate" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/184585-Afghan-diplomat-shot-dead-by-guard-at-Karachi-consulate.
An Afghan diplomat is shot dead at the Afghan consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.