Afghan Interior Ministry building under attack in Kabul

Afghan security forces are engaged in a gun battle with militants, who have attacked the Interior Ministry building in the capital, Kabul.

A bomb went off  at a checkpoint leading to the building on Wednesday, and then four assailants started shooting, a security source was cited by AFP as saying.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed the bomb explosion, saying one police officer had been wounded so far.

“We can confirm an explosion and gunfire at the first checkpoint of the Interior Ministry building. Security forces are there to assess the situation,” he said in a statement.

Security sources said there had been more explosions afterwards but could not confirm how many.

“The attackers have not been able to enter the main building,” Danish said.

But the fighting continues.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier in the day, Taliban militants attacked a police station in southern Afghanistan. The militants detonated an explosive-laden vehicle at the entrance of a police station in Puli Alam, the capital of Logar Province, according to police spokesman Shapoor Ahmadzai. Later, three gunmen entered the police station compound and engaged in a gun battle with security forces.

“In half an hour, security forces killed all the attackers. Unfortunately, three national police and three traffic police were also killed. Eight civilians have also been wounded,” Ahmadzai explained.

A car bomb also went off inside a garage in Kandahar, killing three mechanics and wounding 10 people, according to the Kandahar governor’s spokesman, Daud Ahmadi. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the Kandahar attack.

Last week, the Taliban issued a warning to Kabul residents to stay away from “military bases” since they were planning to carry out more attacks on “the enemy’s military and intelligence centers.”

The Afghan Defense Ministry reacted to the warning by saying that police and troops were “ready to protect the people with all means possible,” and that they would not allow the militants to reach their “un-Islamic and inhuman goals.”

The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group is also present in Afghanistan.

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