11 security personnel killed in Taliban attack on Afghan govt compound

KABUL/MAZAR-I-SHARIF: At least 11 security personnel were killed Monday in an attack claimed by the Taliban on a rural office of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, officials said.

According to foreign media, the insurgents said a suicide bomber detonated a device inside a car near the National Directorate of Security (NDS) while gunmen stormed the building in Aybak city in the north of the country.

Abdul Latif Ibrahimi, governor of Samangan province said 11 people were killed and 63 others, mostly civilians, were wounded in the explosion and gunfire.

The attack, which lasted for nearly four hours, ended after security forces shot dead three armed men, the governor’s spokesman Sediq Azizi said. “It was a huge explosion that broke all our windows,” said witness Haseeb, who only gave one name, a government employee who works near the NDS compound. “Many people have been wounded by flying pieces of glass.” “It’s a complex attack that started with a car bomb,” said Mohammad Sediq Azizi, a spokesman for the provincial government.

The attack ended after four gunmen died following clashes with Afghan security forces, he added.

In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes at a sensiative time as violence increases even as the United States tries to usher the government and militants towards peace talks to end more than 18 years of war.

The violence threatens to hamper progress on the talks, which have not started due to a separate disagreement over the release of 600 Taliban prisoners from 5,000 the group has demanded.