Militants stormed the offices of Save the Children in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing four people and triggering a shootout with police that lasted almost 10 hours, provincial officials and the organisation said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Among the four killed were two employees of the NGO, a security guard and an army soldier.
The assault started with a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives' vest at the provincial offices of Save the Children, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor.
Security forces killed four other attackers, he said, adding that at least 26 people, including three members of the Afghan security forces, were wounded.
After eight hours the fighting subsided and Khogyani said he initially thought it was over but then the shooting picked up again.
Two hours later, it was finally over, he said.
"Our primary concern is to secure the safety of all of our staff," Save the Children said in a statement, adding that it had temporarily suspended its work across Afghanistan.
In a statement on its Aamaq media arm, ISIS said one of its suicide bombers with an explosive-laden vehicle and a subsequent raid targeted "British and Swedish foundations and Afghan government institutes."
Both the Taliban and ISIS are active in eastern Nangarhar province.
Khogyani said the security forces had managed to rescue 46 people, mostly employees of the Save the Children, as the attack unfolded.
US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert denounced the assault, calling it "heartbreaking" and offered "deepest condolences to the victims and families."
Monica Zanarelli, the International Committee of the Red Cross' head of delegation in Afghanistan, said that an attack against an organisation that helps children is "outrageous."
"Civilians and aid workers must not be targeted," she said. "Increased violence has made operating in Afghanistan difficult for many organisations."
Amnesty International's chief for South Asia, Biraj Patnaik, expressed solidarity with Save the Children following the attack.
"It is an organisation that has worked tirelessly in Afghanistan for more than four decades, delivering outstanding work during some of the country's most turbulent periods," Patnaik said.
"Bombing and shooting people who are working for no other reason than to help improve the lives of young Afghans is a cowardly and despicable act."
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