Multiple blasts, gunbattle in eastern Afghan city

JALALABAD: Afghan security forces battled a group of attackers who stormed a government building in the eastern city of Jalalabad for hours on Sunday after a coordinated assault that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens, local officials said. After a car bomb was detonated at the entrance to the state accounts office, a group of about four gunmen, armed with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades, rushed the building, the officials said. There were multiple blasts as they fought off security forces in a gunbattle that lasted much of the day. The attack took place in a busy area of the city with many other official buildings nearby, including a school in which around 1,000 girls were trapped as the fighting raged. There was no claim of responsibility. — Reuters