Taliban attack rocks upscale Kabul district

Nov. 27, 2014: A damaged vehicle at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP)

A closed circuit security camera shows Afghan security forces responding to an attack on a compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014. Afghan police say that a loud explosion has been heard in the Afghan capital Kabul, followed by gunfire. Gen. Mohammad Zahir, Kabul's police chief, says that the gunfire Thursday night took place in an area of the city where the First Deputy President Abdul Rashid Dostum has a heavily fortified compound.(AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Taliban fighters staged an attack Thursday evening in an upscale district in the Afghan capital Kabul. Witnesses described multiple explosions and bursts of gunfire in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which contains numerous foreign embassies and compounds housing international agencies and companies, as well as the homes of some senior Afghan government officials.

Kabul Police Chief Gen. Mohammad Zahir said there were three explosions followed by extended gunfire. A Taliban spokesman said the intended target was a guesthouse in the district occupied by foreigners. The spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, refused to give further details, adding only that the target of the attack was, "enemies."

Afghan police flooded into the area and locked down the surrounding streets. Footage from area security cameras showed heavily armed security forces and armored vehicles deploying.

Kabul has come under regular attack in recent weeks. Earlier Thursday, a suicide bomber targeted a British embassy vehicle, killing a British national.