Death toll rises to 43 in attack on Afghanistan government offices

KABUL, Afghanistan — The death toll from an attack Monday on two government office buildings by heavily armed men rose to 43 people, public health ministry officials said Tuesday.

Scores of government workers were trapped inside their offices in a densely populated area of the Afghan capital during a 10-hour firefight, punctuated by a series of blasts, and government troops did not manage to kill the last assailant until just before dawn Tuesday.

“The toll may go up as we are still evacuating casualties,” public health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said. Scores were wounded.

Majroh said most victims were employees of the Ministry of Public Works and the ministry for martyrs and disabled people, which provides services to thousands of war veterans and others affected by conflict. Among the dead were 11 women who worked in those facilities.

No armed group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the first major violent assault in the capital since last month, when a terrorist bomber killed more than 50 people who had gathered in a hotel to celebrate the birthday of the prophet Muhammad. Taliban insurgents denied any involvement in the Monday attack.

“What is the justification for targeting civilian offices and killing people who are helping the disabled and martyrs’ families?” shouted a man named Shamsullah, who lives near that ministry. “This is very barbaric.”

The attack began with a car bomb outside one ministry. Gunmen then burst into both buildings and roamed among the offices, trapping more than 350 employees.