A massive attack, including suicide bombings, launched Wednesday by Taliban militants against the police headquarters and provincial governor's office in Kandahar city, the capital of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, left 31 people dead, Abdul Raziq, a provincial police official, said.
"A total of 22 suicide bombers launched a massive offensive against the police headquarters and provincial governor's office this morning and security personnel retaliated, killing all the attackers within an hour," Raziq said at a press conference.
He also said that two suicide bombers were killed in self-detonated explosions while the remaining 20 were shot dead during the subsequent clash with the security personnel, Xinhua reported.
"Five security personnel and four civilians, including a woman, were killed in the firefight which lasted for an hour," the police chief said.
Nine civilians sustained injuries during the clash, he added.
Meanwhile, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, who claimed to speak for the Taliban, spoke to the media via telephone from an unknown location and claimed responsibility for the massive attack and insisted there have been huge casualties and damage in terms of life and property on the government side.
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