20 dead as US, Afghans battle suicide bombers

Eleven Taliban suicide bombers attacked government buildings in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sparking running gunbattles that killed at least 20 people and wounded three US troops, officials said. US and Afghan troops freed 20 hostages taken by the insurgents.
The assault began around 10 am when a suicide bomber in a burqa attacked the governor's compound in Khost, an eastern city on the border with Pakistan that houses a major American base. That blast was followed soon after by a suicide car bomb explosion, said Wazir Pacha, the spokesman for the provincial police chief.
US forces attending a nearby meeting responded to the attacks and killed an unknown number of militants, said Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker, a US military spokeswoman. Khost residents hid from booming explosions and running street clashes that lasted until 5 pm.
At least eleven insurgents and nine others - including police and civilians - died, the Defence Ministry said. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed that 30 suicide bombers had attacked the government buildings. A US spokesman summed up the chaos in the midst of battle: "A lot of stuff is going on right now."
The attack began with several suicide attacks on the Khost governor's compound, which drew small arms fire from nearby US troops, said US military spokesman Chief Brian Naranjo. Then a team of six suicide bombers tried to attack the nearby police headquarters, but were rebuffed by security forces and entered the neighbouring municipality building, Pacha said.
Three bombers detonated their explosives, the Interior Ministry said, while other militants took 20 city employees hostage, Pacha said. A second US team was sent from the nearby American base, Camp Salerno. But those troops were fired on en route, Naranjo said. A US soldier and an Afghan policeman were wounded and taken to Camp Salerno for treatment where they were in stable condition, he said. A number of militants were killed, he said.
After the militants entered the municipal building, a number of explosions reverberated from within, as US and Afghan forces surrounded the area, an Associated Press stringer said from within the police chief's compound. US and Afghan forces later stormed the building, freed 20 hostages and killed three insurgents, Pacha said.