KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents staged a coordinated attack targeting a security firm in the eastern part of the capital on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 19 others when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and fighters engaged security forces in a gun battle, Afghan officials said.

The attack came hours after provincial officials said at least 30 civilians were killed along with 16 Taliban fighters during an overnight battle between Afghan government forces and insurgents in southern Helmand province.

The attacks were the latest in a series of brutal and near-daily Taliban assaults on military and police forces and government and other installations throughout the country. The resurgent Taliban, who in recent years have taken over nearly half of Afghanistan, claimed the attack in Kabul.

Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the Kabul attack took place when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and then other insurgents started ..

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(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there’s no intelligence connecting the order to murder Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi to the Saudi crown prince.

Pompeo says “I do believe I’ve read every piece of intelligence” that came in “and there is no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the order to murder Jamal Khashoggi.”

Pompeo spoke after he and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis briefed senators behind closed doors Wednesday on the U.S. response to the Khashoggi killing.

Pompeo urged senators to continue to support U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen and maintain strong ties to Saudi Arabia, a longtime U.S. ally.

U.S. intelligence agencies have made the assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would have at least known about the plot to kill Khashoggi. This led some lawmakers to call for the U.S. to take a tougher stand against Saudi Arabia.