JALALABAD: At least ten people were killed and more than 40 injured when militants detonated bombs and stormed a government building on Sunday in an hours-long attack in an eastern Afghan city claimed by the so-called Islamic State group, officials said.

The assault in the eastern city of Jalalabad was the latest deadly violence to strike Afghanistan as militant groups step up attacks and US-backed Afghan forces intensify air strikes and ground offensives.

It began around 12:50pm when the militants detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the city finance department, “opening the way for a number of armed attackers to enter the building”, said Nangarhar provincial governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani.

Terrified employees flung themselves from windows to escape as security forces battled the attackers for more than four hours, before all eight assailants were killed, Khogyani said.

Earlier, he said the attack had been carried out by four attackers and that there had been two explosions. He later said the heavily-armed militants were also carrying grenades.

“Two attackers were killed by their own car bomb blast. Six attackers were killed by security forces. Ten civilians and security forces were killed and 42 wounded,” Khogyani said.

One of the injured employees, Qaisar, said the assault began around noon, when “a big boom shook our building”. “I then saw at least two armed attackers entering the building. My friends ran to hide and I jumped from a window,” he told AFP from a Jalalabad hospital, where he was receiving treatment for a broken arm and leg.

Abdullah Raqibi, the finance department director, said all employees had been evacuated. “Unfortunately we lost three staff. They were killed in the blast that happened at the entrance,” he said.

The body of a policeman and eight civilians, including the three finance department employees, along with 36 wounded people had been brought to hospitals in Jalalabad, said Najibullah Kamawal, director of the city health department.

The so-called Islamic State group claimed it carried out the attack, in a statement from its Amaq propaganda agency.

“A suicide mission using a car bomb hit the finance ministry in Jalalabad,” said the statement circulated on encrypted messaging app Telegram.

Jalalabad is the capital of restive Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. Some areas of the province are a stronghold of the so-called Islamic State group, while Taliban fighters are also active there.

The assault came days after suicide bombers and gunmen launched apparently coordinated attacks on two Kabul police stations on Wednesday, killing at least ten people.

April saw a series of attacks across the country targeting voter registration centres as Afghanistan gears up for long-delayed legislative elections due in October.

The Taliban and IS have made clear their intention of disrupting the elections. Officials are concerned that a low voter turnout will undermine the credibility of the poll.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2018