The U.S. embassy in Afghanistan came under attack on Tuesday by Taliban fighters equipped with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, according to reports.
Taliban militants began firing on the American facility in Kabul on Tuesday afternoon, local time. There were no immediate reports of embassy casualties, said the Associated Press.
Mohammed Zahir, head of the Kabul Crime Investigation Unit, told the AP that a large group of gunmen are shooting from positions in a tall office building under construction near the embassy.
Zahir later told the UK’s Daily Telegraph that there were five men involved in the attacks. Two of the attackers have been arrested by Afghan forces, while three are still fighting - according to the TELEGRAPH.
A Taliban spokesman has already taken responsibility for the assault, saying they were targeting American government buildings in the area, according to the CNN and the BBC. The spokesman also said that the militants were armed with suicide vests and RPGs.
The coalition forces also have their headqarters located near the US embassy.
A Western military source told Al-Arabiya English that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force headquarters was one of the targets. “ISAF HQ is under attack at the moment,” the source said.
The American Embassy in central Kabul is currently in “duck and cover mode,” CNN said, but there are no reports that U.S. forces are firing back at the Taliban.
Meanwhile, there are ongoing explosions in Kabul, according to reports. Blasts and gunfire were heard throughout the Wazir Akbar Khan area, which is home to the American and other embassies, said the AP. Light weapons fire and grenades are being used, reports CNN and Reuters.
One Taliban spokesman said that the targets were Afghan government buildings, not the American embassy. “The primary targets of the attackers are the intelligence agency building and a ministry,” a Taliban spokesman told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location.
The attack in Kabul follows a large truck bomb explosion near a NATO base in Central Afghanistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Four Afghan civilians were killed and 77 U.S. troops were wounded in that attack.
Taliban militants began firing on the American facility in Kabul on Tuesday afternoon, local time. There were no immediate reports of embassy casualties, said the Associated Press.
Mohammed Zahir, head of the Kabul Crime Investigation Unit, told the AP that a large group of gunmen are shooting from positions in a tall office building under construction near the embassy.
Zahir later told the UK’s Daily Telegraph that there were five men involved in the attacks. Two of the attackers have been arrested by Afghan forces, while three are still fighting - according to the TELEGRAPH.
A Taliban spokesman has already taken responsibility for the assault, saying they were targeting American government buildings in the area, according to the CNN and the BBC. The spokesman also said that the militants were armed with suicide vests and RPGs.
The coalition forces also have their headqarters located near the US embassy.
A Western military source told Al-Arabiya English that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force headquarters was one of the targets. “ISAF HQ is under attack at the moment,” the source said.
The American Embassy in central Kabul is currently in “duck and cover mode,” CNN said, but there are no reports that U.S. forces are firing back at the Taliban.
Meanwhile, there are ongoing explosions in Kabul, according to reports. Blasts and gunfire were heard throughout the Wazir Akbar Khan area, which is home to the American and other embassies, said the AP. Light weapons fire and grenades are being used, reports CNN and Reuters.
One Taliban spokesman said that the targets were Afghan government buildings, not the American embassy. “The primary targets of the attackers are the intelligence agency building and a ministry,” a Taliban spokesman told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location.
The attack in Kabul follows a large truck bomb explosion near a NATO base in Central Afghanistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Four Afghan civilians were killed and 77 U.S. troops were wounded in that attack.
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