Afghan suicide attackers kill at least 19

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Suicide attackers stormed two Afghanistan government buildings Wednesday, killing at least 19 police officers and civilians, officials said.

Eight attackers died and 54 victims were wounded in the coordinated assaults, in which militants wielding guns and wearing explosives-laden vests burst into the Afghan Justice Ministry's headquarters in central Kabul and the ministry's corrections department in the northern part of the city, The New York Times reported.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attacks and said several other suicide bombers may be at large in the city.

Police officials said five gunmen stormed the Justice Ministry headquarters, killed an official at the entrance and spread out into the building. All of the gunmen were eventually killed, as were two civilians and two members of the security forces.

In the second attack, two suicide bombers blew up devices at the corrections department, killing seven police officers and wounding 15, a senior prisons officer, Gen. Mohammad Arif, told the Times.

The attacks came ahead of a scheduled visit to Kabul by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. President Barack Obama's newly appointed envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and highlighted the challenge facing U.S. and NATO forces in curbing Taliban insurgents, the newspaper said.