9 Killed, Over 30 injured in Gunfight in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad

According to the Afghan news agency, the attack happened in the capital of restive Nangarhar Province after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives close to the gate of the finance department. Other insurgents then stormed the building.

However, an eyewitness said four explosions had been heard in the area.

Reuters cited Sohrab Qaderi, a member of the provincial council, as saying that at least four attackers armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns still appeared to be fighting police.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility; however, some areas of the province are a stronghold of the ISIS terrorist group. But Taliban militants are also active there.

On Saturday, Taliban militants have killed at least eight government forces during clashes in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz Province.

Police said dozens of militants stormed the quarters of security forces in Dasht-e-Archi district in Kunduz.

"Eight army soldiers and six of Taliban’s Red Unit members were killed, and four other Taliban were wounded,” read a statement by the 303 Pamir Police Zone.

"The government security forces were able to push back the insurgents attack after several hours of clashes,” it added, without offering further details.

The Taliban militant group itself claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militants have increased their attacks over the past weeks with the beginning of their so-called annual spring offensive.

In Afghanistan’s western province of Farah, more than 30 members of security forces were killed in separate assaults by the Taliban in the past days.

Violence is expected to increase even further once the Taliban’s opium harvest, which funds the militants, is completed in the coming weeks.

In 2001, US-led forces invaded Afghanistan and toppled a Taliban regime that was in power then. Since then, the group has launched a militancy and has been operating nonstop, targeting foreign and Afghan forces as well as civilians.

In addition to the Taliban militants, ISIS militants, who have sustained heavy losses in Iraq and Syria, have also gained a foothold in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Afghan government is scheduled to hold long-delayed legislative elections in October, causing added reason for concern, as the Taliban would likely target election centers. They already have attacked a number of registration centers.