A wounded man is assisted in an ambulance after a complex Taliban attack on the campus of the American University in Kabul on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016

KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen stormed the campus of the American University in Kabul as part of a complex attack on Wednesday night, military officials and local media said. Ten people were confirmed dead, including seven students, and over 30 were wounded.

A blast and gunfire were heard at the campus on Darul Aman Road in the western part of the capital city at about 7 p.m., according to Tolo News on Twitter. The report said attackers had infiltrated the heavily guarded campus.

A spokesman for Kabul garrison said a suicide bomber first struck the outer wall of American University, and then one or more armed attackers tried to break in.

“Our security forces are arrived to the area,” said Maj. Shahpour, who like many Afghans goes by one name. “There is fighting going on right now at the university parking lot.”

A university student who declined to provide his name said shooting was ongoing about an hour after the initial blast.

“There are many students and teachers stuck inside,” the student said.

Makia Muneer, a first-year student of English literature at American University, said the suicide attack began 10 minutes after one of her classes ended.

“I left the university, but some of my classmates were still there,” Muneer said. Evening classes were just getting underway at the time, and students had started arriving as she was leaving, she said.

“There might have been hundreds of students and staff of the university when it was attacked,” she said. She said she tried to call several classmates, but all of their phones were off.

Simonetta Gola, a spokeswoman for the medical nonprofit Emergency, said the organization’s Kabul facility had received 18 patients, including five women, and of those three people were in very critical condition. They’re awaiting more, she said.

Casualty figures are likely to rise as security forces slowly work their way through the darkened campus where the electricity has been shut off.

Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, Kabul police chief, told Stars and Stripes the clashes had abated by 9:45 p.m.

“We are inside the university right now carrying on clearance operations,” Rahimi said. “We will see if there is more resistance by the enemy.”

Afghanistan-based journalist Bilal Sarwary told CNN that relatives of people still trapped at the university said the militants were throwing grenades and appeared in for the long haul, having brought snacks of Red Bull and dates with them, as well as maps of the campus. At least two Americans managed to escape, he said.

A small number of NATO advisers are assisting the Afghan security forces responding to the situation, said U.S. Army Col. Michael Lawhorn, spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan

“These advisers are not taking a combat role, but advising their Afghan counterparts,” he said.

The campus, located in western Kabul and surrounded by tall blast walls, was opened in 2006. It has about 1,300 students. The nonprofit, coed university offers a full undergraduate curriculum, some graduate programs and English-language courses, including many taught by visiting faculty from the United States or other Western countries.

The attack comes just weeks after two instructors, an American and an Australian, were kidnapped from their SUV outside the campus. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

Stars and Stripes reporter Tara Copp and Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

garland.chad@stripes.com

Twitter: @chadgarland

