The Taliban claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on the Spanish embassy in Kabul on Friday, further dimming hopes for peace talks with moderate elements of the Islamist insurgent movement touted just days ago by President Ashraf Ghani, Reuters reported.
Gunfire was reported immediately following the explosion, which the Taliban said was targeted at a guest house attached to the embassy in a heavily protected area of the capital close to many foreign embassies and government buildings.
"The only information we can confirm is that there has been an explosion in the embassy," a spokesman at the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid said. He had no reports of casualties.
Security forces with armored vehicles were deployed around the scene, with at least three insurgents involved in the attack, according to one police official.
At least seven people were brought to a hospital operated by the aid group Emergency, 700 meters (yards) from the Spanish embassy, according to a tweet from the organization.