Taliban fighters storm govt. building in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Taliban fighters opened fire and stormed a government building in eastern Afghanistan in the most serious of a string of attacks across the country early on Monday, May 12. In Kabul, two rockets struck inside the grounds of the city's international airport but caused no damage, the Associated Press reported.

Following the attack, police surrounded the provincial justice ministry building in the city of Jalabad and were engaging in sporadic exchanges of gunfire with the militants inside, said General Fazel Ahmad Sherzad, the provincial police chief of Nangarhar province.

The attackers struck around 9:00 am as employees were arriving for work, Sherzad said, but it was unclear how many people may have been inside the building when the militants took it over.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack but provided no further details. Last week, the Taliban said they would launch their annual spring offensive on May 12.

Also on Monday in eastern in Afghanistan, groups of militants, including some on motorbikes, attacked police checkpoints, killing three people and wounding eight.

The attacks happened on the outskirts of the city of Ghazni in the province by the same name, said deputy provincial governor, Mohammad Ali Ahmadi. Two women and a policeman were killed, while two policemen and six civilians, including three children, were wounded, added Ahmadi.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere in Jalalabad, attackers targeted a police vehicle and detonated a roadside bomb, wounding six people, including two policemen.

In the capital, Kabul, two rockets fired from unknown location landed inside the perimeter of the city's international airport without causing any damage, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.

In addition, two rockets were fired toward the Bagram military airbase, 48 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kabul but also caused no damage, provincial police chief Masoom Farzahee said.