Quote:US embassy in Kabul under attack - live updates

Rockets are being fired at the US embassy in Kabul, say police in Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibliity and says the attackers are armed with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and suicide vests.



The Taliban is claiming responsiblity for an attack on the US embassy in Kabul

11.31am: The US embassy in Kabul has come under attack. Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, writes:

Explosions and gunfire rattled Kabul this morning after militants appeared to stage an attack against the US embassy and Nato's main military base in the Afghan capital.
Eyewitnesses reported that some of the attackers had taken up a position in a tall, half-complete building behind the embassy from which they started firing.
A series of explosions could be heard in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan area, where many embassies and foreign aid agencies reside. A Western military source told AFP that "ISAF HQ is under attack at the moment," in reference to the Nato-led International Security
Assistance Force. There has been no immediate report on casualties.
BBC correspondent Quentin Somerville tweeted that a rocket had landed 100m 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 the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force.
The Taliban were quick to take responsibility for the attack saying insurgents conducted a massive suicide attack on local and foreign intelligence facilities. The city has been on a heightened security alert in recent weeks following a series of high-profile attacks including on the British Council last month.