Local officials in Nangarhar province said Monday that 21 have died and 43 have been wounded in the attack on a prison in PD4 of Jalalabad city that began on Sunday evening and is still ongoing.

The governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told TOLOnews that the clash is still ongoing close to the prison in PD4 in Jalalabad city and has continued for so long because attackers "use shopping malls as cover."

The attack has continued for 13 hours, at the time of this report.

According to Khogyani, so far 21 civilian’s dead bodies and 43 wounded people have been transferred to the provincial hospital, and the wounded people are in stable condition.

So far three attackers were killed, but  militants continue to fight in the Jalalabad prison and a nearby mall, said Attaullah Khogyani, the governor's spokesman.

The clearing operations are going slowly to protect the lives of policemen and inmates in the prison, and civilians in the mall, Khogyani said.

An Afghan commando in Jalalabad said the number of attackers may be "over twenty."

Another credible source confirmed that the clash inside the prison is still ongoing and said that 700 inmates who fled the prison have been re-captured. A total of 1,500 inmates were in the prison originally, the source said.

A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle full of explosives at the entrance gate of the prison in PD4 of Jalalabad city at 6:44 pm on Sunday.

Emal Neyazi, Nangarhar's police chief, confirmed on Sunday to a TOLOnews reporter in the area that 2 blasts occurred inside the prison.

Eyewitnesses say that the attack began with a car bomb exploding at the prison entrance gate, and the way was opened for the attackers and they clashed with the security forces.

Local media reports say Daesh has claimed responsibility, but this is unconfirmed.

The Taliban denies involvement in the attack.

The attack began on the last day of the Eid ceasefire between the Taliban and the Afghan government.