Pakistan embassy official shot and wounded, Islamabad concerned

A Pakistani embassy official was shot and wounded by unidentified motorcycle-borne gunmen outside the mission building, with Islamabad voicing concern over the attack.

Mehboob Asif, a visa section officer, was shot as he stepped out of the embassy building at Basundhara in the outskirt of the capital.

He was shot three times, police said adding that his assailants, who were riding on a motorcycle, escaped.

Asif was rushed to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) in Maharajgunj with bullet wounds in his stomach, police said, but described his condition as stable.

In Islamabad, a foreign office spokeperson Tehmina Janjua said the official was an assistant counsellor in the embassy. "We have taken up the matter with the Nepalese government," she said.

The Kathmandu police launched a massive manhunt for the killers and rounded up over 100 suspects for questioning.

The shooting of the Pakistani visa officer comes after a recent wave of gun attacks in the capital by unidentified gunmen, fuelling concern over public security.

Last week Nepal's energy minister was stabbed outside his house, just hours after he was appointed and recently an Indian trader was shot dead at New Road in the heart of the city.