The Taliban claimed responsibility for a auto bomb attack on a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul on Friday, and said fighting was still going on at the scene.
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Four Afghan and two Spanish police officers were killed in the suicide attack at a guest house near the embassy, officials said.
The government in Madrid confirmed that the two foreigners killed during the assault were Spanish policemen.
“The presence of our Mujahideen with weapons and a vehicle loaded with explosives in such a high security area shows God’s support and the cooperation of the poor and Muslim people”, spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid said in a statement.
Initial reports suggested that the Spanish embassy was under attack, but Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied this.
The three militants – one of which is believed to be a suicide bomber – were killed after hours of intermittent gunfire and explosions that lasted in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police also rescued 12 people at the guest house.
Shir Pur resident Mohammad Zaman said the explosion, which sent a giant cloud of smoke into the sky, was so powerful it broke his glasses.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA a guesthouse was the target because, he said, it was being used for military activities and intelligence sharing.
Afghan VP Abdul Rashid Dostum and other high-level government officials live in the area.
The attack follows a 27-hour Taliban assault this week on Kandahar airport, the largest military installation in southern Afghanistan, in which at least 50 people died, including women and children.
The resignation of Rahmatullah Nabil on Thursday highlighted the domestic backlash Ghani faces over his attempts to fix strained relations with Islamabad.
A massive vehicle bomb struck central Kabul during rush hour on Friday evening, followed by ongoing bursts of gunfire, officials said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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