MAHMUD RAQI (PAN): Eight suicide attackers and a soldier were killed in a fierce clash with security personnel in the Tagab district of central Kapisa province on Monday morning, officials said.
The firefight erupted after a group of suicide bombers detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a joint base of the Afghan army and local police in Jalokhel area at 6am.
Malim Qudus Sapi, the district's administrative head, told Pajhwok Afghan News two civilians were killed and a third wounded in the blast and the ensuing clash.
Kapisa Governor Gen. Mehrabuddin Sapi said 10 insurgents were involved in the attack and eight of them were eliminated in the clash. Two soldiers and three local policemen were wounded in the engagement, he said, denying civilian casualties.
On the other hand, a provincial council member claimed civilians were among the casualties. Hussain Mohseni said the dead included three residents, two soldiers, a policeman and nine assailants.
Police spokesman Col. Humayun Rasheedi said the attackers' bodies lay at the scene along with their walkie-talkies and weapons. The three hours clash came to an end with the bombers' killing, he added.
One soldier was also killed and another wounded in the incident. But Rasheedi denied civilians were among the casualties.
Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing and the subsequent gunbattle. The group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, without giving specific figures, said several Afghan and foreign security personnel were killed and wounded.
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