ISLAMABAD – Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the office of Amrullah Saleh, a vice presidential candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Afghanistan.

The Foreign Office, in a statement, said Pakistan condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. “Pakistan fully supports the democratic process in Afghanistan. We stand with our Afghan brothers and sisters in their efforts to restore complete peace in the country through an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process,” it added.

https://twitter.com/ForeignOfficePk/status/1155516468068605954

At least two people were killed and 25 others wounded earlier today after Saleh's political office was hit by a large explosion and stormed by unknown attackers.

The Reuters news agency reported Saleh was hit by shrapnel before being safely evacuated from the office. Photographs shared by a government official showed Saleh sitting in a garden with bloodstains on his right arm. He was surrounded by security guards.

Ferdous Faramarz, a spokesman for Kabul's police chief, said the explosion was likely a suicide car bomb and the gunfight was still ongoing after the assailants stormed the building following the blast.

Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said at least two people were killed and 25 wounded.

Afghanistan: Death toll in attack on VP candidate's office rises to 20

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but both the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have carried out attacks in the past in Kabul.

Saleh is an uncompromising opponent of the Taliban and other hardline groups. President Ashraf Ghani, Saleh and more than a dozen other Afghan politicians launched their presidential campaign on Sunday.

https://twitter.com/ashrafghani/status/1155482784351301632

Ghani said in a tweet: "My brother, true son of the Afghan soil and first VP candidate of my electoral team, Amrullah Saleh has survived a complex attack by enemies of the state. We are relieved and thank the almighty that the attack has failed."