Kabul US embassy attack: September 13 as it happened

• Blasts and gunfire across Afghan capital Kabul
• Taliban claims responsibility for attack
• Fighters dressed in burkas, police say
• Seven Afghans dead, 15 wounded. No Isaf casualties.
• Afghan police hunt insurgents in high-rise building

Latest

23.00 That's all from the Kabul attack live blog tonight. For our full Afghanistan coverage click here.

22.48 Ben Farmer in Kabul's story for Wednesday's Telegraph on the Kabul attacks:

By nightfall at least six people were dead and 10 wounded as the standoff continued, with Afghan forces reportedly backed by Nato special forces soldiers clearing the building floor-by-floor trying to dislodge the surviving militants. At least six insurgents were also killed.

Coalition officials sought to downplay the success of the attack saying it was a propaganda ploy that had failed to inflict casualties on its intended targets.

21.51 Reports of gunfire continue through the night in central Kabul:

I'm really not happy to still be hearing gunfire. #Kabul #Insurgentsgohome

20.54 Read The Telegraph's editorial comment on the Kabul attacks:

Taliban leaders are unlikely to engage in peace talks if the West intends to pull out of Afghanistan at the earliest opportunity.

The Taliban’s deadly terror attacks against a number of high-profile targets in Kabul yesterday should alert Western leaders to the worrying reality that the Nato-led mission to Afghanistan is running into serious trouble. The fact that insurgents were able to attack the American embassy and Nato headquarters, as well as other key facilities, is a graphic illustration that, 10 years after the September 11 attacks, they continue to pose a considerable threat to that country’s well-being.

20.00 Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, on the Kabul attacks:

The civilians who serve are dedicated, brave men and women, committed to advancing our mission. They will not be intimidated by this kind of cowardly attack.

We will take all necessary steps not only to ensure the safety of our people but to secure the area and to ensure that those who perpetrated this attack are dealt with.

19.20 Two attackers are still hiding on the 10th floor, using hand grenades, according to the BBC's Bilal Sarwary - via twitter - in Kabul.

19.01 Reports on twitter about how the attack was planned:

Hearing from multiple sources, attackers had stored weapons in advance.

17.45 The attackers used burkhas and travelled to the highly-patrolled embassy district in a mini-van, Gen Ayub Salangi, the police chief of Kabul, is quoted as saying, adding the force lacks female search teams to frisk women passengers.

Police teams are now on the eighth floor of the building used to mount the attack but are progressingly slowly because the area is "dark" and "full of cement, steel and paint."

Source: Bilal Sarwary, BBC producer, Kabul

17.23 Locals report heavy gunfire and explosions continue to be heard close from the embassy district.

17.14 Nato has released this footage of Isaf forces inside their Kabul compound firing on militants who attacked their base and the US embassy. They appear to be from a number of countries, including the US.

16.57 This picture purports to show a dead militant in the back of a police truck (warning: image of body)

16.37 Ben Farmer, the Telegraph's correspondent in Kabul, reports on the "complicated, co-ordinated" attack.

16.35 This is the building in which Afghan police are hunting for insurgents who fired on the US embassy.

16.27 Afghan security forces are still trying to take control of the building where attackers are hiding, according to local reports.

15.39 American diplomats will continue to work in Afghanistan, Hilary Clinton, US secretary of state, said.

"The civilians who serve... will not be intimidated by this kind of cowardly attack," AFP quoted her as saying.

15.34 A third fighter has been shot dead by police, leaving two still firing, according to local reports. Isaf tweets:

15.24 Six people have died and 15 wounded in the attacks in Kabul, the Afghan interior ministry said. The dead are thought to number four policemen and two civilians, who were killed in four seperate locations.

^{Afghan Police fire on militants in Kabul}

15.12 Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, a Nato spokesman, said today was the first time Afghan National Air Force had used its helicopters in such an anti-terrorist operation.

^{An Afghan military helicopter fires on a building which is occupied by Taliban insurgents during a coordinated assault in Kabul}

He said the attack proved the security of the Nato and US embassy compounds, which were not breached, and said the Afghan forces responded "very well" and quickly.

He said the situation in Kabul was "under control and now winding down."

15.05 Afghan policemen fire on the insurgents

An ANAF Hind gunship circles over the complex where gunmen have taken up positions

14.58 A statement from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, saying the attacks won't halt the transition from Nato to Afghan control of security:

The attacks cannot stop the process from taking place and cannot affect, but rather embolden our people's determination in taking the responsibility for their country's own affairs

14.57 A potted history here of recent attacks on Kabul from Associated Press:

14.48 Isaf say the fighting is ongoing in Kabul but insurgents have not breached the "green zone" of the embassy perimetre.

14.40 This is the schoolbus which came under attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, this morning. The Taliban in Pakistan are understood to have claimed responsibility for the attack which killed four children, a teacher and the driver, saying they belonged to "a pro-government tribe".

Eighteen people, including 15 children, were wounded in the attack using RPG rounds and Kalashnikov rifles.

"Our comrades attacked the bus which was carrying children from the Aka Khel tribe, whose people are fighting against us at the behest of the Pakistani army," Taliban spokesman Mohammed Afridi told Reuters.

"They have been told time and again to desist from any activity against us but they did not listen. We will continue to carry out such attacks."

At Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, children lay in beds with shrapnel and bullet wounds from Tuesday's attack, their uniforms soaked in blood.

"We were in the van, going home like every day. Suddenly I heard an explosion and gunfire," said 8-year-old Sabir.

14.30 Mark Sedwill, the UK's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, tweets:

14.24 Afghan policemen arrive at the scene of the rocket-propelled attack in Kabul

Police in Kabul

14.19 The firefight continues in Kabul, with four militants holed up in the building overlooking the US embassy according to local police. It is now a fight to the death, witnesses say. Loud blasts are reported, thought to be rocket propelled grenades.

BBC's Quentin Sommerville says a "massive assault" by security forces is underway.

14.10 Afghan Health Ministry say one civilian has been killed and 16 wounded in the attacks.

14.00 Ernesto Londoño, a Washington Post correspondent, reports an Afghan journalist has been shot in the leg outside the building used as a staging post for the US embassy attack. An RPG has been fired from that building. And he tweets:

13.33 Jerome Starkey, The Times man in Afghanistan, responds to the claim by the head of Nato that insurgents are trying to derail the handover of security to Afghan forces:

Update: He adds he has been asked to leave the scene of the attack by a "very police Englishman" in special forces uniform.

13.32 In full, the latest statement from ISAF on the Kabul attacks:

A small group of insurgents attacked the vicinity of the U.S. 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. (local).

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.

13.29 Lauren Katzenberg, who works for Afghan-based media group Cetena, tweets that her colleagues watched the suicide bomb attack on the police station from their second floor office:

13.21 Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs, tweets:

13.14 Two Afghan National Air Force Mi35 helicopter gunships are carrying out cannon runs on the 14-storey under-construction building where attackers were holed up.

Isaf Black Hawk helicopters are also providing air support, it is reported. Muzzle flashes are visible from the tenth floor of the building which overlooks the US embassy and Nato HQ.

13.13 This map shows how the attack has struck at the heart of Kabul's diplomatic quarter

13.07 Update from Ben Farmer, the Telegraph's Afghanistan correspondent:

Three hours after the initial attack, explosions and gunfire can still be heard in the embassy district.

Kerri Hannan, a spokesman for the American embassy, confirms there has been small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire in the area.

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the attacks were an attempt to derail plans to hand over security responsibility to Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

He said: "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."

13.05 Video: Police block roads around the US embassy in Kabul as government buildings, including Nato headquarters, come under attack.

12.52 An expat in Kabul tweets:

12.44 Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, a Nato spokesman, said there had been no ISAF injuries and the perimetre of Nato's headquarters in Kabul were secured and the situation was "under control." He said the "small group" of attackers were trying to secure elevated firing positions to pour fire into the compounds.

He played down the ability of militants to strike in the heart of Kabul, saying:

This is something terrorists will achieve in any secure area in the world. The IRA achieved it in London.

12.36 An Afghan office worker tells the BBC it is the worst violence he has seen in Kabul in six months and he believes the Taliban have more weapons than the Afghan forces.

I'm just wondering how these guys can get inside, bring in heavy weapons and blow themselves up. It is the most heavily guarded area in Kabul. I'm so scared. These guys can come any time, any place and do anything they want.

12.35 More from war reporter Simon Klingert:

12.31 Large explosions and gunfire reported at the Abdul Haq roundabout area, Kabul. An RPG has hit an office near the Wazir Aqbar mosque, with casualties.

12.29 Here's that school bus which came under attack. Local reports say it had no children in at the time.

Smoke rises from buildings in Kabul.

One policeman has been killed and two wounded in the attack in the west of Kabul.

12.28 There are no casualities at this time among US embassy personnel, Reuters report. Two of the attackers have been arrested by Afghan NDS forces, while three are still fighting, Pressistan Kabul report.

12.24 Bilal Sarwary, a BBC Producer, tweets Afghan police have opened fire on a car that refused to stop.

12.19 Bilal Sarwary, BBC producer and journalist tweets:

12.19 The office of Press TV, the Iranian television channel, in Kabul has been attacked with several injured, according to local reports.

12.14 Locals report the second bomb attack in Dehmazang district is an area containing the Afghan Parliament, the HQ of the border and traffic police and the Dutch and Russian embassies. One policeman has been killed in the attack.

12.12 Police and other security officials have blocked roads around the US embassy.

Nato headquarters and the US embassy in Kabul

12.09 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary general of Nato, says the Kabul attack is a test of the security transition and won't succeed.

"We are following the developments closely. We have confidence in the Afghan authorities' ability to deal with this situation," he said.

"We are witnessing that the Taliban try to test transition but they can't stop it. Transition is on track and it will continue."

War reporter Simon Klingert tweets:

12.07 US Marines have taken up firing positions on the roof of the US Embassy, the BBC reports.

12.05 A bomb has exploded near the HQ of the border police in Dehmazang district, Kabul.

12.01 UH 60 Black Hawk helicopters are patrolling over the fighting now. Two further explosions and gun fire have been heard in Karte Seh district. The Ministry of Information reports two attackers have been killed.

11.56 This is an image of the US embassy in Kabul which came under rocket attack today.

"Right now the embassy is in duck and cover," U.S. embassy spokesman Gavin Sundwall said.

11.50 The attack comes as Ayman al-Zawahiri, the new leader of al-Qaeda, applauded the Arab spring in a message to mark the anniversary of 9/11.

On Saturday a truck bomb injured 80 American soldiers and left two Afghans dead in an attack on an American base in eastern Afghanistan.

11.45 Three children, a teacher and a driver have been killed in an attack by gunmen this morning on a school van near Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan. Five others, including secondary school age children, were wounded. The attack is being blamed on Taliban-linked militants.

11.37 Afghan TV report a gunfight near the Shinozada hospital. Bismellah Mohammadi, the Afghan Minister for Interior Affairs, is believed to now be in the area, local agency Kabul Pressistan report. Four people are so far reported injured.

Nato sources have confirmed to AFP that the Isaf headquarters in Kabul is under attack.

Rockets landed on a building housing Tolo TV and another landed near a minivan carrying children.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed in a text message to AP that suicide bombers using assault rifles were attacking the offices of the Afghan intelligence service.

11.30 There are five men in a group of suicide attacks that targeted central Kabul, a senior police official said. Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's Criminal Investigation Unit, said:

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

11.25 Attackers have reportedly taken refuge in a partly-built high-rise building overlooking the area, from where they are coordinating their actions and exchanging sporadic gunfire with Afghan forces, according to the BBC's Quentin Sommerville.

11.23 Witnesses close to the scene, the embassy district in Kabul, have reported a string of mortar rounds fired and small arms fire, and heard explosions that seemed to hit multiple targets.

11.20 The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks on central Kabul close to the US embassy. Nato's headquarters also appear to be under attack. A spokesman has told AFP:

Today at one o'clock

[09.30 BST] at Kabul's Abdul Haq roundabout a massive suicide attack on local and foreign intelligence facilities is ongoing.

11.15 Good morning all. We are covering a series of ongoing terrorist attacks on the Afghan capital Kabul.