Militants attack Afghan government building, 10 dead

Militants attacked a provincial government building in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 10 people, officials said.

Attahullah Khogyani, the spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said a suicide car bomb exploded outside the building, which belongs to the provincial finance directorate. The attackers then stormed the building, trading fire with security officials.

"There were eight terrorists who carried out a co-ordinated attack in Jalalabad city, killing 10 people," Khogyani said. He added that 42 other people were wounded during a five-hour battle.

He said security forces killed six of the attackers after two of them carried out suicide attacks near the building's entrance. Security forces were able to rescue around 50 employees stuck in the building during the attack, he added.

Inamullah Miakhial, a Nangarhar hospital spokesman, also confirmed the death toll and said that more than 40 wounded people were undergoing treatment at the hospital.

The group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack, the Islamist militant group's  Aamaq news agency said without providing any evidence.
 
Both the Taliban and a local ISIS affiliate have carried out numerous attacks in Nangarhar province where Jalalabad is located.

Afghan security forces have struggled to combat the Taliban and ISIS since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat role in the country in 2014, shifting to a support and counterterrorism mission. The Taliban have seized control of districts across the country, and the two groups have carried out attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in recent months that killed scores of people.​