Islamic State claims attack on Afghan midwife center

Three killed, seven injured in attack

CAIRO:

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on a midwife training center in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday that killed three staff.

The ultra-hardline militant group, which cited no evidence for its claim in a statement issued via its Amaq news agency, said the attack was carried out by two gunmen.

Islamic State has a stronghold in the province of Nangarhar surrounding Jalalabad, bordering Pakistan.



Gunmen stormed a midwife training center in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad yesterday, fighting security forces for several hours and killing three staff.

One of the attackers died early in the operation after detonating a suicide bomb but a second held out for several hours before being killed, provincial government spokesperson Attaullah Khogyani said.A driver and two security guards were killed and seven people were wounded but 63 other people, almost all women, were rescued unharmed from the compound, which contained a training facility and a student residence