‘Save the Children’ Attack Ended As Five Attackers Killed

The attack on ‘Save The Children’ Office in Jalalabad City of eastern Nangarhar province was ended after all five attackers were killed, officials confirmed Wednesday. 

At least six people were killed and more than 24 were wounded after gunmen stormed the building of the aid agency in the city, said the Provincial Governor’s Spokesman Attaullah Khogyani. 

The attack began at 09:10 am local time when four assailants reportedly fired a rocket propelled grenade from a car outside the British charity’s compound, blasted their way into Save the Children’s office and then clashed with security forces for about several hours.

According to local officials,  the aid agency’s 46 employees including 12 women were rescued. 

The Taliban denied their involvement; but Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Hours after the attack, Save the Children announced its operations have been temporarily suspended and all its offices have been closed in Afghanistan. 

“In response to this, all of our programmes across Afghanistan have been temporarily suspended and our offices are closed,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement. “We remain committed to resuming our operations and lifesaving work as quickly as possible, as soon as we can be assured that it is safe to do so.”

The attack comes days after Taliban militants attacked the Hotel Intercontinental in the capital Kabul, which killed and wounded dozens including foreigners.