2 assailants killed in attack on Kabul govt compound

KABUL: Militants detonated a car bomb before storming a Kabul government compound in an ongoing attack Monday, officials and witnesses said, in the latest violence to rock the Afghan capital.

A number of gunmen raided the compound where the Ministry of Public Works and other offices are located, interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. Afghan security forces have killed two of the attackers and freed 200 employees trapped inside one of the buildings occupied by the militants, Rahimi said. “There are still some hostages with the enemy and a clearance operation is ongoing,” he said.

At least four people have been wounded, said health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh. One had broken several bones after jumping from the third floor of a building to escape the attackers, an AFP correspondent at a hospital said. Another two were wounded by broken glass.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the raid that began with a bomb-laden vehicle exploding at the entrance. That was followed by a second blast, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, though he did not specify the nature of it.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the compound, with at least two military helicopters circling above. Journalists near the scene reported hearing numerous explosions in the hours after the attack began.