3 Killed in Attack on Midwife Training Center in Afghanistan

Smoke rises from an area where explosions and gunshots were heard, in Jalalabad city, Afghanistan, July 28, 2018.

A provincial government official in eastern Afghanistan said Saturday three staff members of a midwife training center were killed in an attack on the facility.

Gunmen stormed the facility Saturday in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, and fought security forces for several hours.

Provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said a driver and two security guards were killed and seven other people were wounded. He said 63 other people, most of them women, were evacuated from the area.

It was unclear why the gunmen attacked the facility, which was occupied primarily by midwife trainees from the eastern province of Nuristan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Recent similar attacks, however, have been claimed by the Islamic State group.