JALALABAD, Afghanistan — An Islamic State group attack on a prison in eastern Afghanistan holding hundreds of its members raged on Monday after killing at least 21 …
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — An Islamic State group attack on a prison in eastern Afghanistan holding hundreds of its members raged on Monday after killing at least 21 people in fighting overnight, a local official said. Another 43 people have been wounded in the assault that began late Sunday when an Islamic State suicide bomber slammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the Jalalabad prison’s entrance. Militants then opened fire on security forces at the prison in the capital of Nangarhar province, some 70 miles east of Kabul. Three attackers have been killed so far but the battle continued Monday with sporadic gunfire still coming from the prison grounds, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province. The dead included civilians, prisoners, guards and Afghan security forces, Khogyani said. Police believe several militants slipped away into a nearby residential complex, making it more difficult to flush them out, authorities said. Afghan Security and Defense Force personnel in armored vehicles surrounded the prison in the middle of Jalalabad, just 700 meters (half a mile) from the governor’s office.
