Bombings orchestrated in two Afghan cities

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 21 (UPI) -- Suicide bombers initiated a coordinated assault on government compounds in two eastern Afghan cities Tuesday, killing six security personnel, officials said.

Eight attackers, with explosives strapped to their chests, tried to storm several offices in Gardez and a U.S. airfield in Jalalabad, The New York Times reported.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In Gardez, one of the three compounds the attackers struck was the headquarters of the National Security Directorate, officials said. One bomber detonated his explosives, killing three intelligence officers, but the two others were killed before exploding their devices.

Separately, two bombers tried to force their way into the governor's office but were shot and killed by Afghan guards before they could set off their explosives, local officials said. A sixth attacker who charged a police station was killed.

In Jalalabad, police observed two men on a motorcycle acting suspiciously and tailed them, provincial police chief Ayub Salangi told the Times. One police officer was shot and killed as he approached them to try to make an arrest. Other officers opened fire on attackers, who fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the airfield before they were shot and killed, the Times said.

"It is the enemy of Afghanistan," a government official told the Times. "I cannot name a specific group that is responsible for this but it is people who want to spread fear and it is the opposition, the Taliban, that did it."