Suicide Attack On Red Cross Compound Kills Afghan Guard

A woman at the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Kabul (file photo)

Afghan officials say an assault by two suicide bombers on a International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) facility in eastern Afghanistan ended after both assailants blew themselves up.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says one security guard at the compound in Jalalabad was killed in the attack and another was injured.

A provincial police spokesman, Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal, says there was one explosion as the militants stormed the guest house in the early evening on May 29.

There also was a short gunbattle the surviving attacker and Afghan security forces after the first bomber killed himself.

Reports said Afghan security forces rescued seven foreigners who were holed up at one point inside the compound with that second attacker.

The Red Cross has rarely been targeted by Taliban militants. It has generally good relations with all parties in the conflict, including the Taliban, which allows them to operate in areas under its control.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa