Tweet
19 August 2011
Last updated at 00:34 ET
Suicide attackers have stormed the British Council office in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, killing at least three people.
After a series of blasts, half-a-dozen men forced their way into the building, with the Taliban saying they carried out the attack.
A BBC correspondent says the attack is continuing and gunfire can be heard.
Friday is a national holiday, marking Afghanistan's independence from Great Britain in 1919.
A UK Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm there was an attack against a British Council compound in Afghanistan.
"The embassy is co-ordinating with the Afghan authorities, who are dealing with the incident."
'Wall collapsed' The first blast went off at 05:38 (01:08 GMT), with a second 10 minutes later, Afghan police said.
"We believe there are eight to nine suicide attackers hiding inside the British Council building," police sources told the BBC.
They said the attackers had heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades.
"They have brought enough weapons to fight for a day.''
British forces later entered the area, with Afghan police providing support, Kabul officials told the BBC.
One of the wall of the compound collapsed after the blasts, and there are fears that a number of Afghan policemen are buried in the rubble.
The British Council is government-funded agency which runs mainly cultural programmes.
The Afghan authorities earlier stepped up security in the capital, amid fears that an attack could be imminent on the public holiday.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials
After a series of blasts, half-a-dozen men forced their way into the building, with the Taliban saying they carried out the attack.
A BBC correspondent says the attack is continuing and gunfire can be heard.
Friday is a national holiday, marking Afghanistan's independence from Great Britain in 1919.
A UK Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm there was an attack against a British Council compound in Afghanistan.
"The embassy is co-ordinating with the Afghan authorities, who are dealing with the incident."
'Wall collapsed' The first blast went off at 05:38 (01:08 GMT), with a second 10 minutes later, Afghan police said.
"We believe there are eight to nine suicide attackers hiding inside the British Council building," police sources told the BBC.
They said the attackers had heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades.
"They have brought enough weapons to fight for a day.''
British forces later entered the area, with Afghan police providing support, Kabul officials told the BBC.
One of the wall of the compound collapsed after the blasts, and there are fears that a number of Afghan policemen are buried in the rubble.
The British Council is government-funded agency which runs mainly cultural programmes.
The Afghan authorities earlier stepped up security in the capital, amid fears that an attack could be imminent on the public holiday.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials