Six dead as blasts rock Afghan city

JALALABAD – Agence France-Presse

At least six civilians were killed when militants detonated bombs and stormed a government building May 13 in an ongoing assault in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, officials said.

There were two explosions near the city’s directorate of finance, the Nangarhar provincial governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP, adding that “a number of attackers” had entered the building.

“Security forces are in the area chasing and fighting them,” he said. “So far six civilians [have been] killed and 33 wounded. One attacker is also down. The clearing operation is ongoing.”

Earlier, health department officials in the city said hospitals had received at least four dead bodies and 20 wounded people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Restive region

Jalalabad is the capital of restive Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan.

Some areas of the province are a stronghold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but Taliban fighters are also
active there.

It was the latest deadly violence to strike Afghanistan as militant groups step up attacks and U.S.-backed Afghan forces intensify air strikes and ground offensives.