6 killed in car bomb blast, gunfight in eastern Afghanistan

At least three Afghan police and three assailants were killed in a suicide car bomb blast and ensuing gunfight outside a police camp in Gardez, capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province on Tuesday, the provincial governor confirmed.

“Today roughly at 5:30 a.m., one enemy detonated a car bomb outside a Public Protection Police Forces camp in Gardez. Two gunmen tried to enter the facility after the explosion, but they were shot and killed by police at the gate of the building,” Governor Haleem Fedai told Xinhua.

Five police personnel were slightly wounded in the blast that also damaged facilities of the front gate of the building, the official said, adding the wounded were shifted to a hospital in the region, 100 km south of the country’s capital, Kabul.

He blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack.

The blast sent a column of thick smoke into the sky and triggered panic, the official said.

The Taliban militants have tried to overrun small towns or districts across Afghanistan and consolidate their position since the signing of a Taliban and United States peace agreement in late February.

The militants have intensified attacks, frequently launching hit-and-run ambushes against security forces.