WASHINGTON, June 20 (UPI) -- The State Department confirmed Monday it had received information of a failed plot in Afghanistan to kill outgoing U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.
"We know that the Afghan police told us that they had foiled an assassination plot against the ambassador and had detained a number of individuals who were plotting against or plotting to assassinate him," deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said, adding he could not verify the facts of the Afghan statement.
He said U.S. authorities were in touch with their Afghan counterparts on the issue.
Afghan officials said they arrested three Pakistanis in connection with the plot to kill Khalilzad while the U.S. envoy was traveling to Laghman province Sunday.
"There are a lot of details and that we're still unclear about," Ereli said.
Khalilzad is on his way to Iraq, where he takes up his new job as U.S. envoy to Baghdad.
