At least 16 civilians were killed Wednesday in a complex attack on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.
The attack started with an early morning suicide explosion at the entrance of a construction company in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province. After the blast, four armed attackers wearing suicide vests entered the compound and shot employees of the company, prompting a firefight with Afghan security forces that lasted more than five hours, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the provincial governor.
The office of the company, Entire Builders and Engineers, is close to the provincial airport, where American and Afghan forces are stationed.
“All those killed were employees of E.B.E., nine civilians were also wounded in the attack, two of them in critical condition” Mr. Khogyani said. “All five attackers were killed, a vehicle laden with explosives, two suicide vests, rockets and mines were discovered in the scene of attack by security forces.”
The Taliban said they were not behind the attack, which came as Americans and the insurgent group continued another round of marathon talks in Doha, Qatar.
Nangarhar is the where the Islamic State’s local branch in Afghanistan has established a small foothold. While Afghan and American forces have largely contained the group to few districts, their insurgents have remained resilient.
But in a sign that the Taliban were willing to step up the pressure even as they held peace talks, the group launched a daring attack on a fortified Afghan army base in Helmand on Friday that left at least 40 dead. United States Marines also have a presence in a corner of the base, from where they have been advising the Afghan Army.
Elsewhere in the country’s north, violence has continued over the last several days. In Faryab Province, 15 members of the Afghan security forces were killed on Friday in the Taliban attacks on their outposts, according to local officials. That same day in Sar-i-Pul Province, 10 other security forces were killed when the Taliban ambushed a military convoy, officials said.
In Kunduz Province, 15 soldiers and four police officers were killed on Monday when the Taliban attacked a military base and a local police outpost, said Wali Muhammad Nasiri, a police commander in the district.