Eight Taliban militants attacked three government buildings and a U.S. base in two eastern cities Tuesday in near-simultaneous attacks _ a signature of major Taliban assaults. Eight insurgents and six Afghan security forces died, the Associated Press reported. Using suicide bombings, gunfire and rockets, the militants attacked the governor's compound, the intelligence department and the police department in the eastern city of Gardez just before 11 a.m. (0630GMT; 2:30 a.m. EDT), officials said. Tribal elders and government officials had just finished a meeting at the governor's compound about security for the country's Aug. 20 presidential election when gunfire broke out at the nearby intelligence department, said deputy Gov. Abdul Rahman Mangal. A rocket fired into the intelligence department killed three officers, said Ghulam Dastagir, the province's deputy police chief, while a suicide bombing in front of a police station killed two police. A rocket was also fired at the governor's house, he said. A total of four attackers were shot and killed at the police station and the governor's compound, Dastagir said, including at least two bombers clothed in women's burqas, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Three militants, meanwhile, tried to attack a U.S. base in a second eastern city at nearly the same time. U.S. and Afghan forces killed two of the assailants at the base near the city of Jalalabad, said Mohammad Ayub Salangi, the provincial police chief. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr said a third attacker was captured. A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed 15 militants _ all in suicide vests _ attacked government centers in Gardez. He said they were carrying AK-47 assault rifles and rockets.
