Gunmen take dozens hostage in Afghanistan

July 31 (UPI) -- After a suicide bomber blew up the gate of a government building Tuesday in Afghanistan, two gunmen stormed the building and took dozens hostage, officials said.

The siege Tuesday lasted for about six hours before Afghan special forces ended it.

At least two people were critically injured and 10 other people were also wounded in the gun battle near the refugees and repatriation department of the government building in Jalalabad, the capital city of Nangarhar province, Al Jazeera reported. They were treated at a nearby hospital.

Al Jazeera reporter Charlotte Bellis, in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, said the targeted building is in a "very sensitive area, with the United Nations compound next door and a large hospital on the other side."

Bellis added that "there were multiple people inside the building during the attack," which took place during "a donor conference [that] was going on to help refugees in Afghanistan."

Taliban Spokesman Zabuhullah Maujuhid told Shamshad News that the Taliban was not responsible for the attack.

The attack is the latest in a series of attacks that have hit Jalalabad in recent weeks, killing and wounding dozens of people, Al Jazeera reported.

The independent Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported Monday that the Islamic state may be to blame for the violence.

"The country's franchise of Islamic State [known as IS-K] has managed to gain a foothold in the province when it had failed elsewhere, exploiting the disarray of government forces and the fragmentation of the local insurgency," the report said.

In a separate attack Tuesday, a roadside bomb in the western province of Farah killed at least 11 people and wounded around 40 others, Voice of America reported.

Provincial government spokesman, Nasar Mehri, told VOA that women and children were among the victims. Though there were no immediate claims of responsibility, Mehir claimed Taliban insurgents recently planted the bomb in the Bala Buluk district to target Afghan security forces.