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Suicide bomb, gunfight at Afghan bank, civilians inside- witnesses


    LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Suspected Taliban militants detonated a suicide bomb then stormed a bank branch in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday, engaging in a firefight with security forces while an unknown number of civilians were inside, police said.

    A Reuters witness at the scene heard the blast and the gunfire. Employees who escaped said that when the attack happened, the bank was busy with government workers who had come to collect their salaries.

    "According to our information, there were four Taliban, one of them detonated his explosives and three are fighting with security forces," said Farid Ahmad Obaid, spokesman for Helmand's police chief.

    (Reporting by Mohammad Stanekzai and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)