“We have been notified of a complex attack on the American University”, a Kabul police official told the network.
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The first reports of an attack came from Associated Press photographer Massoud Hossaini, via Twitter, at around 7pm in Kabul.
Mark English, university president, said security forces are on the scene after Wednesday’s attack and that “we are trying to assess the situation”.
A hospital official says 18 people who were wounded in the attack, including five women, were admitted. The ministry of interior’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told media they were heading inside to look for the “terrorists”.
There are no details of casualties or claims of responsibility from militant groups. Students then barricaded themselves into the classroom.
A huge explosion hit outside the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul Wednesday night, with witnesses saying gunfire was heard afterward as students and staff members began to evacuate.
The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, has left thousands of people displaced, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.
Amid black smoke, he took off running with the students and other faculty, and “the smoke entered my mouth” as he fled, he said. He said it was still not clear if there were one or two attackers. “Even as they improve, Afghan security forces are still not as strong as they need to be”.
The school opened in 2006 and is Afghanistan’s only private, not-for-profit and co-educational university.
“These advisers are not in a combat role; they are advising their Afghan counterparts”, Lawhorn said, without specifying how many troops were involved.
Two members of the university’s staff were kidnapped from their vehicle by unidentified gunmen.
They have been named as Kevin King, from the USA and Timothy Weeks, from Australia and their whereabouts are so far unknown.
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Spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the Department is accounting for its personnel and working to locate and assist USA citizens affected by the attack.
