Afghan provincial governor's office attacked, seven suicide bombers killed

Kabul, July 9 (IANS) Seven suicide bombers were reportedly killed when a group of militants Wednesday launched a massive offensive against the police headquarters and the provincial governor's office in Kandahar, the capital of Afghanistan's Kandahar province, 450 km south of Kabul.

"A group of militants first carried out a suicide car bomb attack next to the Kandahar police headquarters and minutes later some militants opened fire on the governor's office," Dawa Khan Minapal, spokesman for the provincial government, told Xinhua.

The gun battle between the security forces and the attackers was still going on, Minapal said, adding that the militants have occupied some buildings near the governor's office and police headquarters.

Meantime, an official, who declined to be named, said that the militants who attacked the governor's office had been killed after an hour of fighting.

At the same time, Ayub Salangi, a deputy in Afghanistan's interior ministry, said on Twitter that seven suicide bombers had been killed and an operation for eliminating the remaining attackers was going on.