A suicide bomber has attacked a police compound and the nearby Iraqi embassy in Kabul on Monday, security officials in the Afghan capital say.
Sources tell Al Jazeera that fighters are holed up in a building close to the Iraqi embassy in Shar-e-Naw and a gun battle is under way.
“We heard two explosions near the Iraqi embassy and part of the building has been damaged,” Mohsen Negaresh, a witness, told Al Jazeera.
The attack comes a week after at least 35 people were killed in a suicide attack on government workers in Kabul and underlines the precarious security in Afghanistan as the US administration considers an overhaul of its policy in the region.
Last week’s attack was claimed by the Taliban. A spokesman for the insurgent movement said he had no immediate information on Monday’s attack.