Two suicide bombings claim 13 lives in Afghanistan

Two suicide bombings which struck the eastern Nangarhar and southern Helmand provinces on Wednesday, have claimed 13 lives including four attackers in Afghanistan, officials said.

In the first violent bombing, which happened near Pakistan Consulate in Nangarhar's provincial capital Jalalabad, 120 km east of Afghan capital of Kabul, at 08:50 a.m. local time triggering gun battle, which lasted nearly four hours, leaving 10 people including three attackers dead, a police officer at the site of the blast said.

According to the official, one of the three militants involved in the bloody attack, blew himself up next to a police vehicle at nearby Pakistan Consulate in Jalalabad.

"One of the three terrorists approached a patrolling police vehicle and blew his suicide jacket up, killing himself and six others including four policemen aboard the car and two civilian passersby," the police officer told Xinhua, but refused to be identified, saying authorized officials would talk to media.

Following the suicide bombing, two more attackers occupied a one-story building near Pakistani Consulate office and begun firing on security forces around.

The attacked area is also housing to a private high school, residences of provincial officials and Indian and Iranian Consulate buildings.

The remaining two attackers and one police officer were killed and 11 more people including security personnel and civilians were injured in the firefight, which ended at around noon time, the official added.

Interior Ministry confirmed the incident in a statement, without providing details on casualties.

Nagarhar's provincial administration has yet to provide information on the deadly attack.

Although no group has claimed of responsibility, local residents have not ruled out the involvement of Islamic State and Taliban fighters who are active in parts of the Nangarhar province.

In a similar attack in the restive Helmand provincial capital Lashkar Gah, 555 km south of Kabul, on the same day, three lives including the attacker were killed, a local official said on the condition of anonymity.

According to the official, police ordered a suspected vehicle for checking but the driver refused and detonated his explosive-laden car killing himself and two civilians at nearby.

Omar Zawak, the spokesman for Helmand provincial government confirmed the blast, saying the attacker was killed and a passerby was injured in the blast.