A suicide attack followed by gun battles at an Afghan governor’s compound killed 19people and injured nearly 40 others on Sunday.

A suicide attack followed by gun battles at an Afghan governor's compound killed 19 people and injured nearly 40 others on Sunday.

Interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi told AFP news agency that 14 civilians and five police had been killed with 37 people, mostly civilians, wounded.
Siddiqi said the attack began after insurgents detonated a suicide car bomb at the entrance of the compound, killing guards and allowing the other attackers to storm the heavily-guarded premises.

The governor and other provincial officials gathered for a security meeting when the attack began at 11:00 am (0630 GMT), police said.
"Five suicide bombers broke into the compound and a gunfight erupted," Parwan provincial police chief Sher Mohammad Maladani told AFP.

"Five blasts took place inside the compound. Three of the blasts took place inside the building, about 15 metres (yards) away from the governor's office," he added.

Abdul Basir Salangi, the governor of Parwan province, told a local television channel while gun battles were underway that six suicide bombers had stormed the main provincial administration.
"I'm inside," Salangi told Tolo News, referring to the compound that houses his office and other administrators in the provincial capital of Charikar about 50 kilometers north of Kabul.

The Taliban movement claimed responsibility, with its spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told AFP that the attack was carried out "by our suicide and devout fighters”.