Insurgents try to storm Afghan government building

A group of insurgents tried to storm a government building in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, setting off a firefight that killed at least five people, police said.  

Gen. Dawlat Khan Zadran, police chief of Paktika province, said four insurgents attempted to take over a government building in Sharan, the provincial capital, about 160 kilometers south of Kabul.     

Three attackers and two policemen were killed in the ensuing firefight, Zadran said. Officers were still exchanging fire with the fourth guerrilla.       

Paktika province borders Pakistan and is one of the main routes for Taliban fighters infiltrating into eastern Afghanistan from their sanctuaries across the border. It is also one of the main strongholds of the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network, which has taken credit for a series of spectacular attacks, including suicide bombings inside Kabul.       

Elsewhere, a joint Afghan and coalition raid killed seven suspected insurgents and 30 captured others in Balkh province, 300 kilometers north of Kabul. A military statement said the guerrillas used rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire to engage the security force.