10 killed in Taleban attack on Afghan court complex

The Taleban claimed responsibility for the assault.

By (AFP)

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Published: Thu 9 Apr 2015, 8:53 PM

Last updated: Thu 13 Feb 2020, 4:32 PM

Mazar-i-Sharif — Taleban militants stormed an Afghan government compound in a northern city on Thursday, killing 10 people, including four prosecutors, and wounding dozens, police said.
The attack took place in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh province. The city is one of Afghanistan’s most economically developed, and insurgent attacks there are rare.
The assault started with four attackers making their way into the compound housing the regional chief prosecutor’s office in the morning hours, said acting police chief Abdul Raziq Qaderi.
The attackers, wearing military uniforms and explosive vests, threw a hand grenade to blow up the compound entrance, Qaderi said.
Police quickly called in reinforcements, who besieged the compound and started exchanging gunfire with the attackers, said Sher Jan Durani, spokesman for the provincial police chief.
Durani said most of the employees and prosecutors were rescued by police but that some were wounded in the shootout.
Qaderi said the dead included four prosecutors and five police, and that 66 people were wounded, including several security forces. He said all four militants were killed. Qaderi had initially said five militants were involved in the attack.
The Taleban claimed the attack in an email from spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
In a separate incident, 12 civilians were wounded by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, according to an Interior Ministry statement.