Gunmen who raided a government building in the Afghan capital killed at least 28 people – mostly government employees – in a seven-hour standoff with security forces that ended on Monday night, Afghan authorities said.
More than 20 others were wounded in the latest bloody violence to strike Kabul.
Others killed included a policeman and three of the attackers who were shot dead by Afghan security forces, Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said.
The attack began in the afternoon when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a car outside the public works ministry. Gunmen then stormed the building of the National Authority for Disabled People and Martyrs’ Families, taking civilians hostage as they fought a gun battle against Afghan soldiers.
Afghan security forces went from floor to floor of the building in an operation to rescue over 350 people inside, but had to exercise restraint in their operations against the attackers given the number of employees there, a senior security official said.
