JALALABAD: Taliban suicide bombers hit an office of the Afghan intelligence agency in an eastern city on Saturday, killing six people, and militants shot dead another 11 in the west.

Seven militants were also killed during several hours of heavy fighting with Afghan security forces at the Jalalabad headquarters of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), said Ahmad Zeya Abdulzai, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province.

Mr Abdulzai said four NDS agents and two civilians were killed when a truck and a smaller car, both loaded with explosives, were driven into the compound and a gunfight broke out between Afghan forces and the militants.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which dozens were wounded.

A pattern of bold offensives by militants has emerged across Afghanistan in recent weeks during the summer “fighting season”.

The militants also struck in the western province of Farah, stopping a truck carrying workers to a construction site near the Iranian border and killing 11 of them. Authorities were trying to find out why the workers were targeted.

“They were innocent Afghan workers. They did not have any connection to the government, so we don’t know the reason for the attack,” said Jawad Afghan, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

Afghan forces have struggled to fight off large numbers of militants in provinces to the east, north and south of Kabul.

Published in Dawn, August 31th, 2014