3rd LD Writethru: 9 killed in southern Afghan shooting attack: police
Xinhua, May 14, 2015 Adjust font size:
About nine people were killed while five others were wounded in a shooting attack in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of southern Afghanistan's province of Helmand on Wednesday, police said.
The attack took place in the morning after two gunmen stormed the provincial Hajj and Religious Affairs Department where a religious gathering was underway, deputy provincial police chief Padshah Gul Bakhtyar told Xinhua.
The clash between attackers and the security forces lasted for three hours, he said.
"The attackers arrived on motorcycles. They also fired on nearby provincial government office building. The clash caused four policemen and three civilians killed in addition to the attackers," he said, adding that five police sustained injuries.
Unofficial sources said 10 people were killed and 12 others wounded in the incident.
No group has claimed responsibility yet for the attack, but the Taliban insurgent group routinely claims responsibility for such attacks.
Helmand is notorious for poppy growing and is a known Taliban hotbed.
The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since mid-April when the militant group launched a yearly rebel offensive against Afghan security forces. Endi