Afghan militants stage attacks in Herat

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Two suicide attacks and an ensuing gun battle at a logistics company in Herat city left two Afghan guards and five insurgents dead, Afghan officials said.

In the attacks Thursday that targeted a compound of NATO contractors near the airport in the western Afghanistan city, a suicide bomber first set off an explosives-packed vehicle at the compound's checkpoint, The New York Times reported, quoting Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Ahmad Behishti.

Seconds later, another suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed vehicle at a second checkpoint, Behishti said.

Three insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms then stormed the compound and began exchanging fire with Afghan guards, the report said. NATO helicopters provided support, the report said.

The battle ended with security forces killing all three insurgents.

Similar attacks in fortified urban areas have occurred in recent weeks. Last Monday, an attack near a U.N. refugee agency office in Kandahar left five people dead.

The security control of the western Afghan city was handed over to domestic forces in July by NATO as part of a plan to withdraw its troops by 2014.