Daesh claims attack on Pakistani envoy in Afghanistan
Islamabad says attackers failed to harm Pakistani diplomat but shot and wounded his security guard in capital Kabul. Afghan Taliban says it has arrested a suspect.
Taliban fighters stand guard near to the site of attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Daesh terror group has claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul, which Islamabad decried as an "assassination attempt".
In a statement cited by militant monitor SITE, Daesh's regional chapter said on Saturday it had attacked Pakistani ambassador and his guards.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called it "an assassination attempt" on the head of the mission, and demanded an investigation.
A Kabul police spokesperson said one suspect had been arrested and two light weapons seized after security forces swept a nearby building.
A security guard was wounded in the attack on Friday in the Afghan capital.
Although Pakistan does not officially recognise Afghanistan's Taliban government, it kept its embassy open and maintains a full diplomatic mission.
READ MORE: Pakistan's top diplomat survives assassination attempt in Kabul
Afghanistan vows action
An embassy official told the AFP news agency a lone attacker "came behind the cover of houses and started firing", but that the ambassador and other staff were safe.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry said they strongly condemned the "failed attack".
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not allow any malicious actors to pose a threat to the security of diplomatic missions in Kabul," it said in a statement, vowing to find and punish those responsible.
Pakistan has complicated relations with the Taliban, with Islamabad long accused of supporting them even while backing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan that toppled them following the 9/11 attacks.
Pakistan is home to more than a million registered Afghan refugees.
Since returning to power, the Afghan Taliban have insisted they would not allow foreign militant groups to operate from home soil.
The shooting comes a day after Pakistan's government demanded Afghanistan's Taliban rulers prevent terrorist attacks coming from their soil.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, who are allied with their namesake's across the border, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing earlier in the week in Pakistan's Balochistan province that sent a wave of shock and anger across the nation.
The bombing killed four people and appeared to target police protecting polio workers in the area.
Pakistan blames the Afghan Taliban for not doing enough to control militants sheltering in their country who stage attacks across the border — charge Taliban denies.
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