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Attackers Storm Afghan State Television Building, Civilians Killed


Smoke billows from a building where suspected militants attacked the state-run RTA TV station in Jalalabad on May 17.
Smoke billows from a building where suspected militants attacked the state-run RTA TV station in Jalalabad on May 17.

Attackers stormed the state television building in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, triggering an hours-long gunbattle with security forces.

Four attackers and two civilians died in the May 17 violence, according to local officials and medical personnel. At least 13 other civilians were injured in the fighting.

Attaullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Nangarhar Province’s governor, said four attackers had entered the compound of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), including two suicide bombers who blew themselves up.

Several RTA employees were reported to have been trapped inside the station during the clashes.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack in Nangarhar’s capital.

Both the Taliban and an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) are active in the mountainous province bordering Pakistan.

With reporting by AFP and AP

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