Multiple blasts rattle Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, 16 killed

An Afghan official says militants set off a suicide blast and stormed a construction company near the main airport in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least 16 people. The province’s police chief, General Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai, says five people were also wounded when the bomber, who was on foot, detonated his explosives at the gate of the company on Wednesday morning.

Stanikzai says several other attackers then stormed inside the company where a gunbattle is underway now. He says the casualty toll could rise further.

The police chief also says that US forces have arrived at the scene.

No one has claimed immediately the attack but both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar province.