15 Killed in Jalalabad Attack

At least 15 people have died in a bomb and gun attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, an official said. Gunmen stormed a government building after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance gate on Tuesday, BBC reported. Afghan security forces had ended the assault and killed two of the gunmen but much of the building was destroyed, a government spokesman said. No militant group has yet said it is behind the attack, although the Taliban issued a statement denying involvement. The self-styled Islamic State terror group has claimed increasing numbers of attacks on civilian targets, amid calls for peace talks between the government and the Taliban. Provincial government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani reported that at least 15 people had been killed and 15 wounded. Also on Tuesday, 11 people were killed in the western province of Farah when a bus was hit by a roadside bomb in what was believed to be a Taliban attack, officials said. And 22 people were abducted by unknown assailants from vehicles on a highway linking Kabul and Gardez, a city in the eastern province of Paktia.