At least three bombs exploded outside a jail compound in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday. Heavy clashes between police and attacking militants followed the blasts with at least one killed and 20 injured.
One major car-bomb explosion was followed by two smaller blasts near the prison complex, provincial council member Sohrab Qaderi said, according to Reuters.
A large police force was deployed to counter the militants, who took up position outside the compound and have since made their way inside the complex.
Afghanistan's TOLO news agency quoted a spokesman for the Nangarhar province governor, who said one person was killed in the first explosion at the prison's entrance gate.
Eyewitnesses told the news outlet that the initial car bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber to clear the way for attackers to enter the prison compound.
#AFG Prison is under attack in Jalalabad city. At least 7 people wounded and taken to the hospital, a police officer in the area in Jalalabad city tells me. Video shared with me by a resident of Jalalabad city. pic.twitter.com/0PVtYO1nbX
— BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 2, 2020
Qaderi said the clashes between the two sides were heavy and ongoing. Footage posted on social media shows black smoke rising from the area where the prison is located.
Local media reported that the Taliban, which agreed to a three-day ceasefire with government forces beginning on Friday, denied involvement in the attack.
So far, no other militant group has claimed responsibility.
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