Taliban hit Afghan government HQ in east, kill 12

FILE - This April 30, 2014 file photo shows Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers standing guard during a military exercise on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Afghan National Security Forces depend exclusively on billions of dollars in funding from the US and its allies, money that is now at risk after President Hamid Karzai's refusal to sign a security agreement to keep a small U.S. force of trainers in the country after the NATO-led coalition ends its mission and withdraws at the end of the year. Alongside the exodus of US troops from Afghanistan before the end of the year, soldiers who hail from countries like Singapore and Slovenia, Mongolia and Malaysia have been packing up too, leaving behind an ever-shrinking NATO coalition. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File) FILE - This April 30, 2014 file photo shows Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers standing guard during a military exercise on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Afghan National Security Forces depend exclusively on billions of dollars in funding from the US and its allies, money that is now at risk after President Hamid Karzai's refusal to sign a security agreement to keep a small U.S. force of trainers in the country after the NATO-led coalition ends its mission and withdraws at the end of the year. Alongside the exodus of US troops from Afghanistan before the end of the year, soldiers who hail from countries like Singapore and Slovenia, Mongolia and Malaysia have been packing up too, leaving behind an ever-shrinking NATO coalition. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

By Associated Press September 4, 2014 3 min read

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The Taliban struck a government compound in eastern Afghanistan early on Thursday in an attack that included two suicide truck bombings and left at least 12 people dead, including eight off duty policemen asleep in their quarters nearby, officials said.

The assailants first set off the two massive truck bombs outside the government compound in the provincial capital of Ghazni, followed by a full frontal assault by over a dozen gunmen.

The assault triggered a gunbattle with the policemen and security forces at the compound and officials said all 13 assailants were subsequently killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message sent to the media.

The attack comes as Afghanistan remains embroiled in a political crisis with the country’s April presidential election still without a clear winner. Two candidates vying to succeed President Hamed Karzai pulled their observers out of a ballot audit meant to determine the winner of a June runoff.

The attack also came as a NATO summit was to begin in Wales, where alliance leaders are to discuss the final stages of the 13-year Afghan war.