Taliban insurgents have stormed a provincial police headquarters in eastern Afghanistan, killing five people and wounding at least 20.
The raid early Sunday in Gardez, capital of Paktia province, began with a suicide car blast at the entrance to the heavily guarded facility. Video showed the massive explosion flattened several blocks of the facility
That allowed a group of heavily armed insurgents to force their way into the compound, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.
A Taliban spokesman claimed the attack “killed and wounded more than 100 security personnel.”
US citizen kidnapped in Kabul
Meanwhile a Kabul police official, told VOA an African, from an unidentified country was kidnapped by gunmen early Sunday in Kabul. Earlier news reports said the kidnapped man was an American citizen.
Afghan television said the abducted man was working on a World Bank-related project for the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, irrigation and livestock.
Government officials have not commented on the reports.
A Finish woman kidnapped last month and two university professors, an Australian and an American, taken way at gunpoint last August are still being held hostage. Both the kidnapping incidents occurred in the Afghan capital.
Dozens of Kabul businessmen also have complained about a rise in kidnapping for ransom incidents in during the past year.
