Suicide bombing at Jalalabad's Indian consulate kills 9

Three suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad Saturday, killing nine civilians, including six children, and wounding 24 others. The attack underscores the worrying trend of the war’s rising violence against civilians -- especially women and children -- which rose nearly a quarter in the first half of 2013.

The U.S. has condemned the Jalalabad attack in "the strongest terms," French news agency Agence France Presse reported.

Police fired on the militants as they approached a checkpoint near the consulate, prompting one of them to set off their explosives-laden car, according to local police.

Two attackers leapt from the car and a gunfight broke out, while the third detonated explosives. No Indian officials were killed, though the blast badly damaged a mosque and dozens of homes and small shops nearby.

A spokesman for the Taliban immediately denied any responsibility for the attack.

"Our fighters have not carried out any attack in Jalalabad," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP. "We do not claim the responsibility for this attack."

A source at the Indian Foreign Ministry told Al Jazeera that all Indian officials were safe.

"Explosion in front of India's Consulate in Jalalabad. All Indians officials safe," Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said on Twitter.

Without laying the blame for the bombing on any group, Akbaruddin hinted that the assault had been planned outside Afghanistan.

"This attack once again highlighted that the main threat to Afghanistan's security and stability stems from terrorism and the terror machine that continues to operate from beyond its borders," he said in statement. "India will not be deterred from its commitment to assist Afghanistan in its reconstruction and development effort."

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan have long vied for power and influence in Afghanistan. Many see their struggle intensifying after the departure of the most international forces by the end of next year.

Afghans fear the void left by the NATO-led foreign forces could lead to yet another round of bloody external interference in the impoverished and violence-racked country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seen as close to India and strongly opposed to the Taliban, who some say is supported by elements of the Pakistani state, in particular its powerful intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).

Karzai also condemned the attack and lamented the loss of life.

Police chief Sharif Amin confirmed that the consulate in Nangarhar province was the intended target of the blast, which created a large crater in the road as survivors wearing blood-stained clothing ran for cover.

Ambulances rushed to the scene and took the injured to hospital as security forces cordoned off the area, where several large buildings were badly damaged, as well as a local mosque, shops and private houses, according to the AFP.

Jalalabad is situated on the key route from the Pakistani border region to Kabul, where many militants are based, and has been the location of repeated attacks in recent years as U.S. and international troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan and hand over security enforcement to local forces.

The recent spike in attacks reinforces fears about the country’s ability to tackle the Taliban on its own.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) compound in the city was hit on May 29, with the Taliban rebels also denying any involvement.

In 2008, a car bomb attack on the Indian embassy killed more than 60 people and, in 2010, suicide attacks on two guesthouses killed at least 16 people including seven Indians.

Elsewhere in Nangarhar province, 22 police officers and 76 Taliban members were killed in the Sherzad district after two days of bloody battles between the Taliban and Afghan police forces.

The battles began Wednesday when Taliban fighters shot and killed a tribal elder for allegedly cooperating with the Afghan government, sparking retaliation from the family and other villagers, residents said. The militant death toll could not be verified independently.

Sherzad district chief Shukrullah Durani said the police requested air support from NATO, but none came.

"If we had received air support we would not have lost such a big number of police and at the same time all Taliban in the area would have been killed and would not have escaped this time," he said.

Al Jazeera and wire services