Militants storm Afghan gov't building; 5 dead

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AFGHANISTAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-22-07-23-06

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Gunmen wearing police uniforms and suicide vests stormed a government building in eastern Afghanistan early Sunday, starting a running shootout with Afghan security forces who surrounded the compound, officials said. At least five people were killed in ongoing fighting.

The attack came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber infiltrated the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack in Khost province in a text message to The Associated Press.

In Sunday's incident, four men armed with assault rifles and wearing explosives drove shortly before dawn into a compound that houses the provincial traffic department on the edge of Khost city, said provincial Police Chief Gen. Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai. Security forces stopped the men, who were wearing uniforms of the Afghan border police, only after becoming suspicious of the civilian station wagon they drove, he said.

Guards opened fire on the attackers, but the men were able to kill a police officer and occupy the upper floors of the building, Ishaqzai said. The attackers shot down on Afghan security forces from their vantage point as a fire raged through the structure.