The facility did not have a license to operate as a guesthouse, nor did they have a fire-fighting plan
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.