Suicide Bombers Hit Afghan Police

CNN reports

Suicide bombers wearing Afghan police uniforms stormed a traffic police station Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least three officers, authorities said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the station, the latest in a string of attacks that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has said will likely increase as insurgents demonstrate their ability to strike.

Four police officers were injured in the attack at the police station where gunmen wearing explosive belts were battling police, said Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai, the police chief in Khost.

"Gun shots are still being exchanged between the attackers and Afghan national police," Ishaqzai said.

Meanwhile, coalition forces were working to defuse a bomb-laden car believed to have been parked next to the police station by the attackers before they entered the building, Ishaqzai said.

"Now the coalition forces are working to defuse the explosives," he said.

The Taliban targeted the police station because "it is mostly used by foreigners," said Zabiullah Mojahed, a Taliban spokesman.

The attack comes a day after a suicide bomber targeted a military hospital in Kabul, killing six people and wounding 26, said Zahir Azimi, a ministry of defense spokesman.

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack, but disputed the number of casualties, saying 51 people died.