At least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack on Wednesday morning near the airport in Afghanistan's Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, officials said.
According to AP, militants targeted a construction company, triggering an hours-long gun-battle with local guards, drawing in US forces to assist the Afghan troops in the shootout.
Nine other people were wounded in the blast, Attahullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesman stated, adding that five attackers were involved in the terror incident.
Two of them detonated their explosives, blowing themselves up, while the remaining three were killed in the shooting.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attackers were on foot and after setting off a suicide blast at the company gates, the others stormed in, triggering a gun-battle that drew US forces to the scene, according to Gen. Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai, the provincial police chief, AP reported.
"US forces are supporting Afghan forces in securing the area now," Stanikzai later said.
As the attack unfolded, flash floods in southern Afghanistan from heavy rains last week have killed more than 40 people, double an earlier estimated toll, a UN agency that is coordinating relief efforts said.
According to Reuters, floods that started on Friday destroyed almost 1,300 homes and damaged 2,500 across nine provinces, leaving many people desperate for shelter, food and clothing, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement late on Tuesday, citing government estimates.
