Kunduz, Afghanistan:A Taliban suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked a police headquarters in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding 40 more, according to the insurgents and Afghan officials.
The attack occurred two days after President Ashraf Ghani offered the Taliban a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Monday.
The insurgents rebuffed the move, which came at the end of peace talks in Kabul, and as the Taliban meet with the US at separate talks in Qatar.
Sunday’s attack started with a massive blast at the police facility in Pul-i-Khumri, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) north of Kabul, sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky.
The explosion was followed up by gunmen storming the police compound, according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
In a tweet, he said a suicide bomber had detonated a bomb inside an armoured personnel carrier, “flattening most of the building”.
Asadullah Shahbaaz, a provincial council member in Baghlan province, told AFP that intermittent fighting was ongoing.
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Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said “two terrorists were gunned down” in the attack, while “the rest of the attackers were besieged by the Afghan forces.”
At least four people had been killed and another 40 wounded, Baghan provincial health director Mohibullah Habib said.
The current round of talks between the Taliban and US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad entered their fourth day Sunday.
The two foes are hammering out a deal that could see foreign forces leave Afghanistan in return for a ceasefire, talks between the government and the Taliban, and a guarantee the country will never again be used as a safe haven for terror groups.
APP/AFP
