Kabul US embassy attack: September 13 as it happened
Live coverage of the Taliban's coordinated attack across the Afghanistan capital Kabul, in which Nato's headquarters and the US embassy are among those targeted.
• Blasts and gunfire across Afghan capital Kabul
• Taliban claims responsibility for attack
• Fighters dressed in burkas, police say
• Seven Afghans dead, 15 wounded. No Isaf casualties.
• Afghan police hunt insurgents in high-rise building
Latest
23.00 That's all from the Kabul attack live blog tonight. For our full Afghanistan coverage click here.
22.48 Ben Farmer in Kabul's story for Wednesday's Telegraph on the Kabul attacks:
By nightfall at least six people were dead and 10 wounded as the standoff continued, with Afghan forces reportedly backed by Nato special forces soldiers clearing the building floor-by-floor trying to dislodge the surviving militants. At least six insurgents were also killed.
Coalition officials sought to downplay the success of the attack saying it was a propaganda ploy that had failed to inflict casualties on its intended targets.
21.51 Reports of gunfire continue through the night in central Kabul:
I'm really not happy to still be hearing gunfire. #Kabul #Insurgentsgohome
20.54 Read The Telegraph's editorial comment on the Kabul attacks:
Taliban leaders are unlikely to engage in peace talks if the West intends to pull out of Afghanistan at the earliest opportunity.
The Taliban’s deadly terror attacks against a number of high-profile targets in Kabul yesterday should alert Western leaders to the worrying reality that the Nato-led mission to Afghanistan is running into serious trouble. The fact that insurgents were able to attack the American embassy and Nato headquarters, as well as other key facilities, is a graphic illustration that, 10 years after the September 11 attacks, they continue to pose a considerable threat to that country’s well-being.
20.00 Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, on the Kabul attacks:
The civilians who serve are dedicated, brave men and women, committed to advancing our mission. They will not be intimidated by this kind of cowardly attack.
We will take all necessary steps not only to ensure the safety of our people but to secure the area and to ensure that those who perpetrated this attack are dealt with.
19.20 Two attackers are still hiding on the 10th floor, using hand grenades, according to the BBC's Bilal Sarwary - via twitter - in Kabul.
19.01 Reports on twitter about how the attack was planned:
Hearing from multiple sources, attackers had stored weapons in advance.
17.45 The attackers used burkhas and travelled to the highly-patrolled embassy district in a mini-van, Gen Ayub Salangi, the police chief of Kabul, is quoted as saying, adding the force lacks female search teams to frisk women passengers.
Police teams are now on the eighth floor of the building used to mount the attack but are progressingly slowly because the area is "dark" and "full of cement, steel and paint."
Source: Bilal Sarwary, BBC producer, Kabul
17.23 Locals report heavy gunfire and explosions continue to be heard close from the embassy district.
17.14 Nato has released this footage of Isaf forces inside their Kabul compound firing on militants who attacked their base and the US embassy. They appear to be from a number of countries, including the US.
16.57 This picture purports to show a dead militant in the back of a police truck (warning: image of body)
16.37 Ben Farmer, the Telegraph's correspondent in Kabul, reports on the "complicated, co-ordinated" attack.
16.35 This is the building in which Afghan police are hunting for insurgents who fired on the US embassy.
16.27 Afghan security forces are still trying to take control of the building where attackers are hiding, according to local reports.
15.39 American diplomats will continue to work in Afghanistan, Hilary Clinton, US secretary of state, said.
"The civilians who serve... will not be intimidated by this kind of cowardly attack," AFP quoted her as saying.
15.34 A third fighter has been shot dead by police, leaving two still firing, according to local reports. Isaf tweets:
Initial reaction time & not harming civilians is what's relevant to #ISAF & #ANSF - not how long we engage the insurgentsless than a minute ago via HootSuite 
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15.24 Six people have died and 15 wounded in the attacks in Kabul, the Afghan interior ministry said. The dead are thought to number four policemen and two civilians, who were killed in four seperate locations.
Afghan Police fire on militants in Kabul
15.12 Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, a Nato spokesman, said today was the first time Afghan National Air Force had used its helicopters in such an anti-terrorist operation.
An Afghan military helicopter fires on a building which is occupied by Taliban insurgents during a coordinated assault in Kabul
He said the attack proved the security of the Nato and US embassy compounds, which were not breached, and said the Afghan forces responded "very well" and quickly.
He said the situation in Kabul was "under control and now winding down."
15.05 Afghan policemen fire on the insurgents
An ANAF Hind gunship circles over the complex where gunmen have taken up positions
14.58 A statement from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, saying the attacks won't halt the transition from Nato to Afghan control of security:
The attacks cannot stop the process from taking place and cannot affect, but rather embolden our people's determination in taking the responsibility for their country's own affairs
14.57 A potted history here of recent attacks on Kabul from Associated Press:
Kabul siege: recent attacks in the Afghan capital
14.48 Isaf say the fighting is ongoing in Kabul but insurgents have not breached the "green zone" of the embassy perimetre.
14.40 This is the schoolbus which came under attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, this morning. The Taliban in Pakistan are understood to have claimed responsibility for the attack which killed four children, a teacher and the driver, saying they belonged to "a pro-government tribe".
Eighteen people, including 15 children, were wounded in the attack using RPG rounds and Kalashnikov rifles.
"Our comrades attacked the bus which was carrying children from the Aka Khel tribe, whose people are fighting against us at the behest of the Pakistani army," Taliban spokesman Mohammed Afridi told Reuters.
"They have been told time and again to desist from any activity against us but they did not listen. We will continue to carry out such attacks."
At Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, children lay in beds with shrapnel and bullet wounds from Tuesday's attack, their uniforms soaked in blood.
"We were in the van, going home like every day. Suddenly I heard an explosion and gunfire," said 8-year-old Sabir.
14.30 Mark Sedwill, the UK's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, tweets:
Back in Kabul amidst today's attacks. More brave Afghans killed by terrorists claiming to fight for them.less than a minute ago via txt Favorite Retweet Reply
Mark Sedwill
marksedwill
14.24 Afghan policemen arrive at the scene of the rocket-propelled attack in Kabul
Police in Kabul
14.19 The firefight continues in Kabul, with four militants holed up in the building overlooking the US embassy according to local police. It is now a fight to the death, witnesses say. Loud blasts are reported, thought to be rocket propelled grenades.
BBC's Quentin Sommerville says a "massive assault" by security forces is underway.
14.10 Afghan Health Ministry say one civilian has been killed and 16 wounded in the attacks.
14.00 Ernesto Londoño, a Washington Post correspondent, reports an Afghan journalist has been shot in the leg outside the building used as a staging post for the US embassy attack. An RPG has been fired from that building. And he tweets:
Taliban spox tells us #Kabulattack today was meant as message to west: stop harassing people for "wearing turbans, sporting beards"less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply
Ernesto Londoño
londonoe
13.33 Jerome Starkey, The Times man in Afghanistan, responds to the claim by the head of Nato that insurgents are trying to derail the handover of security to Afghan forces:
