Two killed in Islamic State suicide attack on Afghan TV station
A suicide bomber and another attacker have struck a local TV station in Kabul, killing at least two guards in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said a male and a female security guard at Shamshad TV were killed in the assault, adding that both attackers were killed by security forces.
He said police rescued some of the TV staff as the attack was unfolding.
Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mujro said 21 people wounded in the attack were taken to hospital.
"The attackers ... had military uniforms on," said General Salim Hassas.
One attacker blew himself up at the gate of the station's compound while the second reached the second floor of the building, where he was killed, Gen Hassas said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied involvement in the attack. The Islamic State-linked Aamaq news outlet said IS was behind the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant postings.
Afghanistan's IS affiliate has carried out several attacks in recent years, mainly targeting the country's Shiite minority, which the Sunni extremists view as apostates.
The IS affiliate is largely made up of disenchanted insurgents who left the much larger and more well-established Taliban.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Tuesday, gunmen killed two people in the western city of Herat, including a provincial council member, said Gelani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial governor.
In the eastern Maidan Wardak province, authorities said they repelled a Taliban attack on a police training centre.
Abdul Rahman Mangul, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said a suicide car bomber struck near the gate to the base and a battle broke out between security forces and insurgents.
He said no Afghan forces were harmed, but a number of insurgents were killed, without providing an exact figure.
"Their attack was repelled by the police forces and they were defeated," said Mr Mangul.
The Taliban claimed the attack.
AP
