At least three powerful blasts rocked the British Council compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, killing eight people, the BBC said.
"We can confirm there was an attack against a British Council compound in Afghanistan," BBC quoted a foreign office spokesperson as saying. "The embassy is coordinating with the Afghan authorities, who are dealing with the incident."
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the center's outer walls, killing three people: two Afghan police officers and a municipal worker. One wall was destroyed, apparently in a car bomb blast.
Nine suicide attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and Kalashnikov assault rifles forced their way into the compound. It is not immediately known whether they managed to enter the building.
AFP said, citing Afghanistan's interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi, that one or two foreigners were among the victims of the attack.
British forces and Afghan police are currently exchanging gunfire with the gunmen. Helicopters were seen hovering above the area.
The Taliban, the group leading an escalating 10-year insurgency in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was to mark the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from the U.K. in 1919.
