The US embassy in Kabul has come under attack. Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, writes:

Explosions and gunfire rattled Kabul this morning after militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests attacked government buildings, the US embassy, and Nato's main military base in the Afghan capital. Witnesses said that some of the attackers were firing from positions in a tall, half-complete building behind the embassy. A series of explosions could be heard in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan area, where many embassies and foreign aid agencies reside. A Taliban spokesman said several attackers with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and suicide vests had taken up positions to attack government buildings. "The primary targets of the attackers are the intelligence agency building and a ministry," Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by phone. At least six loud explosions were heard, and the headquarters of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force was also reported to have come under attack. Television pictures from near the attack showed a burned out minivan, a bicycle lying in the middle of the street and people running away. Police and other security officials blocked roads around the US embassy and other diplomatic missions. "There are several armed attackers in Abdul Haq Square," Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's Crime Investigation Unit told the Associated Press. At least four civilians have been wounded, according to Nadira Hayat Burhani, the deputy head of the health ministry. BBC correspondent Quentin Somerville tweeted that a rocket had landed 100 metres from the BBC office in Wazir Akbar Khan that could have been shot over the embassy. He said US marines were on the roof of the embassy and sirens could be heard coming from ISAF. The city has been on a heightened security alert in recent weeks following a series of attacks including one on the British Council last month. Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths and record civilian casualties.

At least six explosions have been heard according to Reuters, which quotes the Taliban as saying attackers are armed with rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests

Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's criminal investigation unit told Reuters:

There are five attackers involved but I can not give you more details because the operation is ongoing.

Nadira Hayat Burhani, the deputy head of the health ministry, said four wounded civilians had been admitted to two hospitals.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a text message that the target is the offices of the Afghan intelligence service.

Saad Mohseni tweets that the Taliban statement indicates they attacked the US embassy and ISAF headquarters "because they were cornered".

Lotfullah Najafizada, from Tolo News in Afghanistan, tweets:

Attack is expected to last another hour - said a Kabul police official at the scene.

Here's a link to the latest Guardian story on the blasts.

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, says there are Nato helicopters above the city now and Afghan channel TV1 is reporting two explosions in western part of Kabul, on the road to the country's parliament.

I just spoke to Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, who said there are reports of two deaths.

He said:

A series of explosions can gunfire [were] heard in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood of Kabul where there's a lot of of embassies and aid agencies and the first reports were that five or six militants had got into one of the tallest buildings, unused, from which they were firing towards the US embassy and the Nato mission here in Afghanistan. Local TV is showing ...smoke coming from the area where, apparently, rockets had landed.k There were wounded people in the streets. The head of the secret poilce was on TV saying at least one policemand and at least one civilian had been killed. This is the latests in a series of high profile attacks in the capital, Kabul ...The militants are showing that they can act inside Kabul, the most heavily secured part of the country.

The Nato Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (left), said the Taliban attacks in Kabul were an attempt to derail plans to hand over security resposibility to Afghan forces in Afghanistan, but would not succeed. He told reporters in Brussels:

We are following the events closely; we have confidence in the Afghan authorities' ability to deal with this situation. We are witnessing that the Taliban try to test (the) transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue.

One of the rockets damaged a school mini-bus but the Afghan Ministry of Education says there were no students on the mini-bus at the time.

Jeremy Kelly sends this brief update from Kabul:

Nato soldiers locked themselves in dining hall, putting chairs up against doors after fears attackers had breached their base. Soldiers still on lock down on base.

Mustafa Kazemi, a journalist with Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, tweets that the Taliban have confirmed a second series of attacks in another area of the Afghan capital:



Taliban taking responsibility for attacks in 2nd area of Kabul also. The area includes the Karte 3, Deh Mazang, Habibia High School.

The US embassy has released a short statement on the attack:

The US embassy can confirm an attack has occurred in the area of the US embassy, including RPG and small arms fire. We can confirm there are no casualties at this time among Embassy personnel.

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, says Blackhawk helicopters have been shooting at attackers in a high-rise building. A source on the scene says fighting is still ongoing with sporadic gunfire still being heard.

Press TV, the news network controlled by the Iranian government, says its office in Kabul has "come under attack and several people have been injured".

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, reports another loud explosion in Wazir Akbar Khan, behind the US Embassy.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary tweets:



RPG lands close to Wazir Akbar mosque inside a traders office . Sadly there are casualties. Ambulances on its way

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, writes that police claim two of the attackers have been killed:

Kabul Police Chief Mohammad Ayub Salangi tells Radio Television Afghanistan that two attackers have been killed. Two still remain but are surrounded by police. Says one Afghan policeman killed, another wounded. Three civilians wounded. Says totals are not definitive.

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul says Afghan helicopters are circling the building where remaining militants are holed up in Wazir Akbar Khan.

There are unconfirmed accounts on Twitter of the helicopters firing at the building:



@combatjournal



//URGENT// People present at the scene saying Apache AH-64 helos are targeting the building right now. @Massoud151 Two ANA [Afghan national army] helicopters flying and shooting guns to the building

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), whose main base is

next to the US Embassy, has released a statement, saying it has not suffered any casualites so far.

A small group of insurgents attacked the vicinity of the US embassy and International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan headquarters today, firing from outside the compound using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The attack started around 1:30 p.m (10am BST). Afghan national security forces and coalition forces immediately responded to the attack, and are still on the scene. Coalition forces are providing air support. There are no reports of ISAF casualties at this time.

Colonel Mohammad Sabir, commander of the "ring of steel", who controls the dozens of checkpoints around the city says it is too early to say how attackers got past his men and into the building, Jeremy Kelly writes. Sabir says at least one of his men, who manned a checkpoint near the base of the building, has been killed.

Despite reports that the militants are surrounded in Wazir Akbar Khan, the violence appears to be ongoing:

@courtneybody

Big boom and smoke again at same place- Shash Darak and Jalalabad Rd.. one block from Embassy and NDS/ back of ISAF.#kabul @jess_dash Explosion/gunfire from Shash Darak/Abdul Haq #Kabul Mortars?

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for attacks in the diplomatic quarter of Kabul and the west, and said it has also launched an attack near the airport. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the group, said:



We have launched attacks on a road near the airport targeting police and two other areas in the west against security forces.

Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, writes that the Taliban says 10 attackers staged the attack in Wazir Akbar Khan:

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told the Guardian they chose the unfinished, 13-storey high-rise building as the site of the attack because it is "a very high building and with the targets we had we could easily attack from there - like ISAF HQ, like US embassy, like NDS [national directorate of security] office and other administrations." He said there were 10 attackers who were armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and 82mm shoulder-held rockets. He said some also had suicide vests. The building, which has remained unfinished for several years, was rated as a likely staging point for insurgent attacks. Local TV has reported that the country's intelligence agencies had forbid the building to be finished because of fears it would be used for an incident like today.

Lauren Katzenberg, who works for Cetenagroup, a communications firm in Kabul, has been tweeting details of one attack she says took place in front of the company's office as she was en route to the airport for a meeting in Dubai:

Explosion right in front of my office in Karte Seh. All managers out of office. Praying for my staff. Damage to my office but no injuries thank god. Police surrounding the area. My staff reporting bits of suicide bomber blew through the window and now laying on office floor. Apparently some of my staff watched suicide attack take place in front of our office from 2nd floor. Was targeting police station. Bomber was walking down our street carrying two large bags. Police told him to stop and he charged the station.

In line with the claim by the Taliban (see 1.33pm) the ISAF reports that Afghan police have just killed a would-be suicide attacker near Kabul airport. It brings to three the total number of sites of confirmed attacks today.

There has been another explosion heard from Wazir Akbar Khan, more than three-and-a-half hours after the attack commenced, Jeremy Kelly writes.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary tweets that it was "possibly caused by RPG missing ISAF or US embassy".

An Afghan reporter has reportedly been shot in the leg near the US embassy. Afghan journalist Lotfullah Najafizada says the injured reporter was shot by the security forces and not the Taliban attackers.

Mustafa Kazemi tweets that the injured reporer worked for worked for National Television, a state-run organisation.

A spokesman for the Afghan ministry of public health says they have received 18 wounded people, most of whom he said were civilians (via Jeremy Kelly in Kabul).

Habib Khan Totakhil, from the Wall Street Journal and based in Kabul, tweets:



in total 7 bombers, 3 were kiled by police, 2 have detonated their vests & 2 are still fighting with police #Kabul #Afghanistan #Kabulattack

He is also reporting another "very heavy explosion" and has posted some photos online, including of the school bus damaged by rocket fire.

Mustafa Kazemi has posted a picture online of the 13-storey building where the attackers have been holed up and firing from in Wazir Akbar Khan.

Commander of the Afghan police special forces Crisis Response Unit, Colonel Ghulam Daoud, has told Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul for the Guardian, that "it's not clear how many of (the insurgents) are left":



I think it's three. It's a very big building with lots of rooms. We are on the fourth floor. They are on the fifth and sixth floor.

My colleague Paddy Allen has created an interactive of the attacks in Kabul.

The map above shows the areas and buildings under attack.

An Afghan health ministry spokesman has told Reuters that one civilian has been killed and 16 wounded in the attack in the fortified embassy district. Kargar Norghuli said he did not have information about casualties among security forces.

A dry comment from Afghan journalist Lotfullah Najafizada on Twitter:



Karzai's office has sent out three press releases in the last four hours -- none on today's attacks in Kabul, not a condemnation at least!

The Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai, has now condemned today's attacks in Kabul. More details when they become available...

Here is the full press release from the office of the spokesperson to the president of Afghanistan:

H.E. Hamid Karzai (pictured), president of the Islamic republic of Afghanistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Kabul this afternoon. Initial reports indicate that terrorists launched attacks in three different locations in Kabul's Abdul Haq Square, Deh Mazang and on the Dar-ul-Aman Road. The attacks are reported to have injured some people. Strongly condemning the attack, President Karzai said the enemy does everything they can to affect the process of transition of security responsibilities to Afghan government. "The attacks can not stop the process (transition) from taking place and can not affect, but rather embolden our people's determination in taking the responsibility for their country's own affairs", the President said. The president also praised the rapid reaction by the brave security personnel in controlling the situation without allowing terrorists to inflict further human and material losses. Their timely reaction demonstrates their improved ability. The president prayed for a quick recovery of the injured and instructed the ministry of health to put to use all possible resources for the treatment of those injured in the attacks.

The police chief of Kabul says six people have been killed by the attackers, including two civilians, and is blaming a group with a strong presence in Pakistan's tribal regions, the BBC's Bilal Sarwary tweets:



Two civilans killed&12 others injured. Four ANSF killed&four injured. Haqqani network responsible for attack. G A Salangi P chief of Kabul

The network is affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida and blamed for most of the major attacks in Afghanistan, particularly brazen assaults on the capital Kabul. It has been described as the glue that binds together the militant groups operating in Pakistan's tribal North Waziristan.

"The Haqqani network has been more important to the development and sustainment of al-Qaida and the global jihad than any other single actor or group," a study released in July by West Point's Combating Terrorism Centre said.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has just been speaking. She said the US would do everything it could to combat those who committed a "cowardly attack" on its embassy and other buildings and was moving to secure the area and "ensure that those who perpetrated this attack are dealt with."

Diplomatic editor Julian Borger has written about the attacks on his global security blog :

The people of Kabul will be asking why this is taking so long, and wondering what happened to the security forces' vaunted 'ring of steel', the checkpoints and blast barriers around the city centre which were the partial cause of the traffic jams troubling [US ambassador Ryan] Crocker. Underlying those questions is a deeper sense of anxiety over what will happen once western combat troops leave in 2014. [Nato secretary-general, Anders Fogh] Rasmussen Rasmussen also tweeted that "Taliban trying to test transition but will not be able to stop it. Transition on track." That is a near certainty because the US and western European publics cannot stomach any more. But that does not translate into confidence the Afghan army and police can fill the vacuum. The fear of a return to the chaos of the nineties is tangible in Kabul and beyond. The real concern is that such attacks are a taste of what is to come, not the death throes of the insurgency.

Gunfire is still being heard in Kabul, tweets @courtneybody.

One attacker is reported to be still fighting.

It is just after 9pm in Kabul. Bilal Sarwar, a BBC journalist in the city, is tweeting that the Kabul chief of police Ayub Salangi is saying that the attackers arrived in a minivan and wore burkas.

Here is a statement from the US embassy, confirming four wounded in the attack on the embassy compound.

The US Embassy confirms an attack occurred today in the area of the US embassy, including RPG and small arms fire. Four Afghans were injured in the attack on the embassy compound, none with life threatening injuries. They included three Afghan visa applicants and one local contract guard. Our thoughts are with these individuals and the other victims of the terrorist attacks that happened today in Kabul. We appreciate the response of the Afghan National Security Forces whose operations stopped the attack on the embassy compound.

Jeremy Kelly in Kabul reports that police are now saying the attack is over and all the militants dead. The building is currently being checking for booby-traps.

Here is a summary of the events of today from Jeremy Kelly in Kabul's most recent news story:

A multi-pronged attack by Taliban militants held Kabul to siege today and raised fresh doubts over the ability of Afghan security forces' ability to takeover security operations in the country. For more than six hours insurgents occupied the upper floors of unfinished building in the Afghan capital, raining bullets and rockets toward their three main enemies in the 10-year war – the US embassy, Nato's HQ and the country's National Directorate of Security. The attack began about 1.30pm when insurgents, believed to be disguised in burqas, reached Abdul Haq Square, killing at least one policeman at one of city's "Ring of Steel" checkpoints and then scampering up the building. As rockets overshot the embassy, civilians rushed for cover in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood where several other embassies and foreign non-governmental agencies are housed. US embassy staff donned flak jackets and helmets and scrambled for their hardened safe rooms as US soldiers climbed on rooftops. Next door at the headquarters of the Nato-led International Assistance and Security Force, sirens rang out and its public address system announced "this is not a drill". Soldiers were put on lockdown after reports their perimeter had been breached. Dozens of soldiers were rallied into bunkers and the dining hall, where they armed their weapons and placed chairs against the doors to prevent any incursion. At the same time, militants in three other locations began their attacks. Two suicide bombers exploded in the west of the city, near the country's parliament, while a would-be suicide bomber near the airport was shot dead before he could detonate the seven kilograms of explosions he had strapped to his body. Meanwhile, the insurgents in the 13-story building were proving to be a resilient foe. The choice of location was no surprise - In a low-rise city, a 13 floors is considered a skyscraper. This was why it was chosen, a Taliban spokesman told the Guardian while the attack was ongoing.

Attacks are continuing tonight. Jeremy Kelly in Kabul says despite the police chief's earlier statements, more attackers appear to still be in building. Gunfire and small explosions are still being heard.

Soldiers from the multi-national Nato-led International Security Assistance Force respond to the insurgent attack.

We are now closing this blog for the night. Thanks for reading.