Kandahar’s police headquarters attacked by gunmen

Witnesses reported hearing two explosions followed by gunfire in Kandahar city, close to the police chief’s compound. It was reported that the insurgents seized a tall building near the compound from which they wire firing at the police headquarters.

Attacks on the Kandahar province by insurgents have increased since 2001, with the overthrow of the Taliban government. Kandahar is situated on Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

Earlier this week in Kandahar, a US customs officer died in an attack on a customs office.

Last month a suicide bomber killed the province’s deputy governor as he was  on his way to the office from home.

The United States says it has made progress in securing parts of southern Afghanistan such as Kandahar, but the insurgency has spread to previously peaceful areas in the north and west.