18 killed, 70 wounded in Taliban attack on bank in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan

Eighteen people were killed and over 70 others were wounded, including police chiefs, Saturday in a Taliban attack on a bank in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan.

Police collecting their salaries were among the casualties including Alishah Paktyamwal, police chief of Nangarhar province where Jalalabad is located, plus his deputy.

The incident is third major attack in a week targeting police in Afghanistan, who alongside the army are due to take control of the war-torn country's security from 2014, allowing most international troops to withdraw.

It happened when seven Taliban suicide bombers burst into a branch of Kabul Bank in the city and detonated their devices. There was also a hail of gunfire as the attack unfolded.

"Unfortunately, 18 of our countrymen were martyred and more than 70 injured," Gul Agha Shirzay, provincial governor of Nangarhar province, told a press conference. He added that seven suicide attackers armed with guns and grenades carried out the attack.

The casualties included police, bank staff and civilians. One of the dead was a police officer as were 14 of the injured.

One man who was in the bank when the attack started, who gave his name as Ewazullah, told AFP that the gunmen were killing indiscriminately. "I was in the bank to withdraw some money when several armed men entered, fired some shots in the air and then told the people to gather to one side and then they started shooting," he said. "They were killing indiscriminately, I was hiding in a corner."

Baz Mohammad Shirzad, regional health director for eastern Afghanistan, said he had asked for extra army security at the hospital where the injured were being treated amid fears of a possible fresh attack there.