9 dead in Paktika assault

SHARAN (PAN): Six attackers and three policemen were killed and five others, including two civilians, injured when a group of militants attacked a government building in the Yahyakhel district of southeastern Paktika province, officials said on Thursday.

The six-member rebel group, wearing Afghan army uniforms, stormed the district centre, but they were eliminated by security forces, Brig. Gen. Dawlat Khan Zadran, the provincial police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said a subsequent clash between security forces and the guerrillas lasted one and a half hours. As a result, all the attackers — equipped with suicide vests — and three policemen were killed. Another three policemen and two civilians were wounded in the incident.

The governor’s spokesman, Mukhles Afghan, said the assailants tried to hit a local police checkpoint. When stopped, the militants opened fire at the security personnel, he added.

As police reinforcements reached the site, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests while the rest were killed by security men, according to the gubernatorial spokesman, who explained no civilians were hurt.

As usual, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault, with their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying the fighters entered the district compound and killed a number of security personnel.

mrh/mud

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