At least two people have been killed in a car bomb and gunfire attack on an office of Save the Children in eastern Afghanistan, according to local media reports.
At least two people have died in the attack, according to Pajhwok Afghan News [Parwiz/Reuters]
At least two people have died in the attack, according to Pajhwok Afghan News [Parwiz/Reuters]
A policeman and civilian were killed when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside the headquarters of the NGO in the city of Jalalabad early Wednesday morning, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
At least 12 others were wounded and two attackers have been killed since fighting began, the Afghan news outlet said.
“We understand that two floors of the three-storey building have been cleared, but the basement and the top floor have not,” said Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul.
Special forces and ambulances arrived on the scene quickly, she said.
“We are not exactly sure who is trapped inside, or how many people are there, but we do know it is an ongoing situation with Afghan special forces exchanging fire with what they believe are heavily armed attackers, not only with guns but with grenades as well.”
The Taliban said it was not involved in the attack.
Glasse said the assault may have been carried out by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, who are present in eastern Afghanistan.
Save the Children said it was “devastated”.
“Our primary concern is for the safety and security of our staff,” the group’s statement said.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Jalalabad, Humayoon Babur, an Afghan journalist, said the attack had taken place in “the heart of the city”.
“[The area] is home to many government buildings … [and] the provincial government office,” he added.
Wednesday’s attack comes just days after at least 18 civilians were killed, and 22 others were wounded, during a deadly siege on the Inter-Continental hotel in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
The Taliban has since claimed responsibility for the assault on the hotel, which lasted for 16 hours from the evening of January 20 before all of the attackers were killed.
![At least two people have died in the attack, according to Pajhwok Afghan News [Parwiz/Reuters]](http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2018/1/24/0baa7c5209764575883e54e8d2380675_18.jpg "Gunmen attack Save the Children office in Jalalabad")