Four attackers, strapped with explosives, have died in clashes after storming a provincial governor's compound in western Afghanistan, officials have said.
Thursday's attack targeted the offices of Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, current governor of southwestern Farah province.
The assault began at 10:30am local time (04:30 GMT), when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives, killing himself at the entrance to the compound, Shamsul Rahman Zahid, the provincial police chief, told local media.
A group of armed suicide bombers dressed in Afghan National Police uniforms then stormed the compound.
"Four suicide attackers who stormed the governor's compound exchanged gunfire with the police," the governor's spokesman Naqeebullah Farahi, told the AFP news agency.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul, said the AK-47 wielding attackers either detonated their explosives or had been shot dead in a firefight with police.
Our correspondent said the attack falls in line with recent Taliban strategies of "targeting high profile locations ... [and] high profile individuals", with a tendency to employ multiple suicide bombers in the attacks.
The seven dead included six police and one civilian, another 12 people were injured.
The attack in the relatively peaceful province comes days before this weekend's NATO summit in Chicago, where the security situation in Afghanistan beyond a 2014 international troop withdrawal will be discussed.
No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack.
Thursday's attack targeted the offices of Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, current governor of southwestern Farah province.
The assault began at 10:30am local time (04:30 GMT), when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives, killing himself at the entrance to the compound, Shamsul Rahman Zahid, the provincial police chief, told local media.
A group of armed suicide bombers dressed in Afghan National Police uniforms then stormed the compound.
"Four suicide attackers who stormed the governor's compound exchanged gunfire with the police," the governor's spokesman Naqeebullah Farahi, told the AFP news agency.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith, reporting from Kabul, said the AK-47 wielding attackers either detonated their explosives or had been shot dead in a firefight with police.
Our correspondent said the attack falls in line with recent Taliban strategies of "targeting high profile locations ... [and] high profile individuals", with a tendency to employ multiple suicide bombers in the attacks.
The seven dead included six police and one civilian, another 12 people were injured.
The attack in the relatively peaceful province comes days before this weekend's NATO summit in Chicago, where the security situation in Afghanistan beyond a 2014 international troop withdrawal will be discussed.
No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
