Suicide bomber, gunmen attack Afghan government building

At least four people were killed and a dozen injured when gunmen stormed a crowded government building in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday following a suicide bombing, with desperate survivors leaping from windows to escape the fighting, witnesses and officials said.

Security forces rushed to the scene after armed men attacked the office in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn country as it gears up for a presidential election on September 28.

Terrified children at a nearby school climbed over walls to get further away from the fighting.

A provincial spokesman, Ataullah Khogyani, said a suicide bomber had initially detonated explosives, after which the gunmen attacked.

Security forces fought to clear the building for several hours before declaring all three gunmen dead, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said roughly six hours after the attack began.

Witnesses and an AFP reporter could hear gunshots immediately after the initial blast.

One of the centre's employees, Haji Qudrat, described the moment one of the gunmen entered his office.

"After the explosion, we heard small gunfire in our corridor, then a man entered our office with a gun and started shooting," he told AFP from a hospital in Jalalabad, where he was receiving treatment for a wounded leg.

"I jumped out the window. Some of our friends are either killed or wounded."