18 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan

At least 18 people, including seven militants, were killed and 16 others injured Thursday in a Taliban-coordinated car bombing and shooting attack on a police station in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city, a senior official said.

"Seven Taliban terrorists equipped with suicide vests and assault rifles raided a police station in Afghanistan's eastern Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province and 120 km east of Kabul, at 5.30 a.m. The police retaliated during which all the seven attackers were killed," Xinhua quoted Nangarhar police chief Fazal Ahmad Shirzad as saying.

Ten police personnel and a student were also killed in the clash which lasted for more than two hours, he said.

Fourteen police personnel and a journalist were among those who sustained injuries during the clash, the police chief added.

The building of national television in Jalalabad city and the police station were badly damaged.

Meanwhile, one Zabihullah Mujahid, claiming to speak for the Taliban outfit in talks with media via telephone from an unknown location, claimed responsibility for the attack saying several police personnel, including the head of the police station, have been killed.