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A new attack on the education system in the midst of exams in the East Afghanistan, in Jalalabad, killed at least 10 people on Wednesday.
The operation, which has not been claimed, lasted for more than four hours, as security forces moved slowly into the building where at least two attackers had entrenched themselves.
An AFP photographer taken to the scene was able to see ten bodies inside besides those of two badailants killed in the badault.
The spokesman of provincial governor Attaullah Khogyani has confirmed a death toll of ten dead, including a security guard, and ten wounded.
The attack began around 09H00 (04H30 GMT), it ended shortly before 13H00, according to a security source who said "the place was fully cleaned. "
She began with several explosions, two or three depending on the sources and witnesses, followed by gunfire.
"I heard small arms fire followed by a big explosion that shattered my windows, so I left my shop and ran away, and there was a second explosion from of the education building and everyone started to run, "said a nearby shopkeeper, Qari Samiullah.
This attack comes on the day of the entrance exams of some 16,000 students at Jalalabad University Since the beginning of the morning, according to a statement from the governor.
However, the spokesman of the Department of Education, Asif Shinbwari, said that the attacked site was the directorate of schools and not the main building.
– Exam Period –
But, "as usual at this time of the year, as the exams begin, teachers from all over the city gather here to submit the copies," he stressed
Jalalabad is the capital of Nanga rhar, a mountainous eastern province bordering Pakistan, home to Taliban and fighters of the Islamic State jihadist group.
The city is frequently targeted by attacks: the latest, on Tuesday, had killed twelve people. a suicide attack claimed by the IS claiming to have targeted the Afghan intelligence services near a gas station that ignited. But the victims are mostly civilians.
The education department in particular has already been targeted in the past, the last time exactly one month ago on June 11: a suicide bomber had unleashed his charge at the entrance of the main building while other attackers engaged with the security forces. At least ten people were wounded
The pressure exerted by US-backed Afghan forces in recent months has recently resulted in the dislocation of IS from three past districts under its control over the past two years.
However, its presence is far from having been eliminated in the region. Since the end of the three-day ceasefire between government forces and the Taliban in mid-June, the Jalalabad region has suffered the most attacks.
An international conference of some 100 religious leaders gathered under the umbrella of the Organization of the Islamic Conference is due to conclude on Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with a denunciation of terrorism and the Afghan conflict, without religious legitimacy with regard to Islam.
In June, a fatwa of the council of Afghan ulemas had already declared terrorism "haram" (forbidden) and called for peace talks.
This conference also coincides with the summit of NATO which is held Wednesday in Brussels in the presence of President Donal Trump. The Atlantic Treaty Organization has 16,000 troops deployed in Afghanistan in support of Afghan forces, including 13,000 Americans.
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