Masked gunmen shot dead three policemen in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province

The governor’s house in a statement to Afghanistan's Pajhwok Afghan News said the policemen were killed after they stopped to offer afternoon’s prayers in the limits of Surkhrod district at about 2pm.

A student of the university and an eyewitness Shahid Ghulamullah told the news agency two motorcyclists opened fire at police guarding the university’s gate and then went on to kill other policemen eating lunch.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Afghanistan has witnessed several terrorism-related attacks this year.

Armed conflict in Afghanistan killed 763 civilians and injured 1,495 in the first three months of this year, the United Nations mission there said Thursday.

“All parties to the conflict in Afghanistan must do everything in their power to protect civilians from harm,” said Ingrid Hayden, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. “Afghan civilians continue to suffer, caught in the conflict, in ways that are preventable; this must stop now.”

The 2,258 civilian casualties, documented from 1 January to 31 March by the UN Assistance Mission in the country, known as UNAMA, are at the similar levels recorded in the first three months of 2017 and 2016. Anti-Government elements caused 1,500 civilian casualties, up six per cent from the same period last year.

Suicide improvised explosive devices (IED) and complex attacks were the leading cause of civilian casualties – a new trend. The Mission found that combats on the ground were the second leading cause, followed by targeted and deliberate killings, explosive remnants of war, and aerial operations.