AMN

afghanistanAt least 11 Government troops were killed and 16 wounded when Islamic State militants attacked the soldiers guarding a military academy in Kabul today.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said a suicide bomber struck the military unit guarding the academy, setting off a gunbattle.

Two of the attackers were killed in the gunbattle, two detonated their suicide vests and one was arrested by the troops, he said.

The attack, which began before dawn and continued well past daybreak, was the latest in a wave of relentless violence in Kabul this month unleashed by the Taliban and the rival Islamic State group that has killed scores and left hundreds wounded.

President Ashraf Ghani denounced the attack, saying the Taliban must choose between Islam and terrorism. The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan claimed the attack.