Car bomb, gun shots kill 3, wound 4 in Afghanistan

Three attackers had been killed and four personnel of the National Directorate for Security (NDS) or the country's intelligence agency sustained injuries as Taliban militants conducted suicide car bomb in their former stronghold the southern Kandahar province on Sunday, NDS said in a statement.

"Today morning at around 06:00 a.m. local time a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car next to the building of national directorate for security leaving himself dead, enabling two others to target the compound but were killed in firefight which lasted just 10 minutes," the statement of NDS asserted.

The statement also confirmed that four personnel of the national directorate for security had also been injured in the violent and deadly incident.

Meanwhile, eye witnesses said that the all scenario lasted for some 20 minutes but caused no harm to civilians.

However, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi who claims to speak for the Taliban outfit in contact with media claimed of responsibility for the attack and insisted inflicting casualties to security personnel, a claim rebuffed by officials as baseless.

Earlier an official on the condition of anonymity said that a militant rammed his explosive-laden car into the wall of a building which houses the rapid reaction force of National Directorate of Security.

"Shortly after the blast which occurred at around 6:00 a.m. local time, two other militants ridding motorbikes approached the building and clashed with the NDS forces. They were shot dead before entering the compound,"the official said.

Without giving more details, the official added that authorized officials would brief media after completion of investigation.

The targeted building, according to the official, is located close to an industrial area and several factories at nearby were damaged due to the blast.

Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, is notorious for growing poppy and Taliban-led militancy over the past few years.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since April 24 when the militant group launched its so-called annual spring offensive in different parts of the militancy-plagued Afghanistan which had claimed hundreds of lives including militants, security personnel and civilians.