In southern Afghanistan, suicide attackers have killed at least 19 people and wounded 35 in an assault that began with two remote-controlled car bombs strategically placed in front of the Uruzgan provincial governor's compound and a local TV station, reports Reuters. An hours-long gunfight then ensued:

Up to six suicide bombers then stormed the governor's compound and the police chief's compound in Tirin Kot, capital of Uruzgan, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi. Three bombers detonated their explosives shortly after the attacks began while the remaining attackers were locked in a hours-long gunfight with police inside the compounds, he added.

A BBC News reporter, Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, was among those killed, reported the BBC. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks and the group's spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, confirmed to the Associated Press that six suicide bombers were involved. The latest violence arrives on the heels of a series of killings in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

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Erik Hayden