Group has established a stronghold in province bordering Pak, where it fights both Taliban and Afghan govt forces
Afghan security forces take up position at the site of suicide bombing in Jalalabad on Wednesday. Pic/AFP
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The Islamic State yesterday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a TV station in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar that killed a security guard as well as all three attackers and wounded at least 17 people.
As the attack unfolded, heavy gunfire could be heard from around the building of RTA, Afghanistan's national broadcaster, located close to the governor's compound in the provincial capital, Jalalabad.
"Islamic State fighters are currently carrying out an attack inside the state broadcasting building in the city of Jalalabad," the movement's AMAQ news agency said in a statement.
The US military last month dropped the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb - dubbed the "Mother Of All Bombs" - on IS positions in Nangarhar, killing dozens of jihadists.
The bombing triggered global shockwaves, with some condemning the use of Afghanistan as what they called a testing ground for the weapon, and against a militant group that is not considered as big a threat as the resurgent Taliban.
8,400 Number of US troops in Afghanistan
13 Journalists killed in Afghanistan last year
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