Three militants killed in attack on Afghan intelligence agency's training centre

Kabul  :  Three assailants were killed in an attack on a National Directorate of Security (NDS) training centre here on Thursday, officials said.

The attack began at 10.15 a.m. when the assailants took up positions in an under-construction building close to the training centre for Afghanistan's intelligence agency in Qala-e-Wazir and opened fire, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nasrat Rahimi said.

The attack triggered a gun battle which lasted for more than six hours, Kabul police chief's spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai told TOLO News.

At least two explosions were heard, which residents said had been rockets, the report said. Interior Minister Wais Barmak said all three insurgents involved in the attack were killed. 

Security forces cordoned off the area and evacuated residents in the immediate surroundings. 

The training centre was also attacked by the Islamic State terror organization in December 2017, which led to the death of three insurgents and left two soldiers injured after a five-hour long shootout.

The incident came after a suicide attack on an educational centre in Dasht-e-Barchi locality of Kabul on Wednesday claimed 34 lives.

In July, six people, including four members of the intelligence agency, were killed in an attack on an NDS convoy.