Gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a government building in eastern Afghanistan early today and engaged in a shoot-out with Afghan security forces who surrounded the compound, officials said.

A roadside explosion rocked the southern Afghan city of Kandahar today, killing a reported five people and wounding at least 25, some seriously, as US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made her first visit to the country, police said.

Eleven people were injured when a bomb ripped through a busy passenger terminal at Jakarta’s main airport today in an attack that police said was “meant to terrorise”.