A suicide and grenade attack have been launched on Kabul airport by fighters, taking over a nearby building which security forces are attempting to storm amid blasts and gunfire in the Afghan capital.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which began at 4:30am local time (1200 GMT) on Monday, with the target said to be the military airport.
Loud explosions and bursts of small-arms fire erupted for at least two hours and were continuing, with the US embassy sounding its “duck and cover” alarm and its loudspeakers warning that the alarm was not a drill.
“An explosion … occurred after which a group of suicide attackers entered a building [near] Kabul airport, and started sporadic shooting,” Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul’s police chief, said in a statement.
“Now the area is sealed off and a stand-off between security forces and the attackers is ongoing.”
Yacoub Rasuli, general manager of Kabul international airport, said all national and international flights had been cancelled.
A senior government official said several fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns were holed up in the building, which was under construction.
“They are firing all over the place, including at the airport. They have machine guns and RPGs. Police have engaged them and there are also units of our special forces in the area,” he said, declining to be identified.
In the past, the Taliban has taken over buildings that are under construction to launch coordinated attacks.
The heavily guarded Kabul airport, which is both a civilian and military facility and contains a large base for the US-led NATO coalition, was closed to all flights.
The NATO-led coalition said that some international forces were involved in the military response to quell the attack.
“There were personnel from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with Afghan forces but Afghan forces led the operation,” a coalition spokesman told AFP news agency.
President Hamid Karzai was on a visit to Qatar but it was unconfirmed whether he was scheduled to return on Monday.
