Iran press/Middle East: Afghan security forces on Monday were battling Taliban gunmen who stormed a building in the capital, Kabul, after a bomb-laden truck exploded near the defense ministry at rush hour,killed 34 and injuring at least 68 people, including 35 children, officials said.
According to Iran press, for hours after the attack, sporadic gunfire and explosions could be heard in the area, cordoned off by special forces. At least three gunmen entered a building around the defense ministry after the blast, a government security official said.
The blast echoed at 8.55 pm local time (4:25 GMT) in Puli Mahmood Khan, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told reporters. A police official, Mohammad Karim, said that a car bomb exploded outside a Defense Ministry building before militants then ran into a nearby building and began firing down on the ministry.
Police and special Afghan security forces cordoned off the area.
The Afghan football and cricket federations and military buildings are also located in the area. The US Embassy is also close to the scene.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which comes on the third day of talks between delegates of the group and U.S. diplomats in Qatar and follows protracted air and ground offensives against the militants in various parts of the country in recent months.
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The attack began with a powerful explosion carried out by a suicide bomber in a vehicle outside a compound of the Defense Ministry, located in a densely populated part of the city less than a mile away from the presidential palace, witnesses said.
Then a group of assailants, including suicide bombers, entered the facility, sparking an hours-long gun battle with police and security forces, they added. Explosions could be heard as well.
The incident comes after a nearly two-month pause of such attacks by the Taliban in the capital and coincides with the seventh round of talks between Taliban representatives and US officials.
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