Kabul auto bombing may have targeted Spanish Embassy

United States officials said they believe a team of three terrorists – one suicide bomber in the auto and two gunmen alongside – were involved in carrying out the atrocity.

The Taliban mounted a auto bomb attack on a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul on Friday, wounding at least seven people and further dimming any hopes of peace talks with moderate elements of the Islamist insurgent movement.

A loud blast was heard in central Kabul in an area with a number of foreign embassies and other governmental buildings, Reuters reported Friday. Afghan officials have not confirmed any casualties.

Sherpur is home to several foreign NGOs and residences of senior government officials, including former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, Afghanistan’s first vice-president.

Local media cited unconfirmed reports that the target was a guesthouse frequented by foreigners near the Spanish embassy in the city’s affluent Sherpur area.

Friday’s assault follows a deadly Taliban siege of Kandahar airport this week as the militants ramp up attacks despite the onset of the harsh winter season, when the fighting usually winds down.

A wounded man is carried away in the aftermath of the series of gunfire and explosion at the heart of Kabul.

As many as four attackers inside the building – possibly wearing suicide vests – were exchanging fire with Afghan special forces, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told NBC News.

An Afghan soldier is on the scene of an auto bomb attack by Taliban… The Taliban, which is growing in confidence following a decade in exile during the American and British occupation of the country, has claimed responsibility.