Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The attack sends a huge plume of black smoke into the sky

Attackers have detonated explosives before storming the offices of the Save the Children charity in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The attack started at about 09:10 local time (04:40 GMT) on Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle explosive at the entrance to the Save the Children compound, Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, told the BBC. Mohammad Amin, who was inside the compound when the attackers launched the raid at 9:10 am (0440 GMT), told AFP from his hospital bed that he heard "a big blast". Pray for us… Inform the security forces.”

There are several other aid agencies in the area, along with government offices. Save the Children, an AFP reporter at the scene and a security source said the attack was continuing in the early evening, hours after an official claimed it was over. A statement from Save the Children said the group was “devastated” at the news of the attack, confirmed the incident was ongoing and added: “Our primary concern is for the safety and security of our staff.”

It continued: “All of our programmes across Afghanistan have been temporarily suspended and our offices are closed.”

But it said it remained “committed to resuming our operations and lifesaving work as quickly as possible”. Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said 47 people were rescued from the office building after Afghan security forces and the attackers battled each other for more than eight hours.
Attackers detonate explosives before storming the offices of the Save the Children charity in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.