One Nepalese guard was wounded when Taliban militants attacked a guest house for foreigners in Kabul, Afghanistan Thursday night. The attack happened just hours after a British Embassy vehicle was ambushed, killing one British citizen and five other people.

General Mohammad Zahir of the Kabul police said there were three explosions, probably from rocket-propelled grenades, followed by bursts of automatic gunfire. The target was an area within the Wazir Akbar District, where some foreign embassies and the offices of international agencies are located. Foreign companies and the homes of a few senior Afghan officials are also located in the district.

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A spokesman for the Taliban said the intended target in the attack was guesthouse occupied by what he termed as "foreign enemies."

Later in the night, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said no foreigners were killed in the attack.

"One Nepalese guard was wounded, but all the foreigners are fine," the deputy minister said. Three attackers had been killed, and one blew himself up, he said.

Early Friday morning, witnesses reported seeing heavily armed security forces and Afghan police in the area, supported by a number of armoured vehicles.

Tony Haslem, head of security for the agency International Relief and Development, told AFP that the attack near their compound lasted for about 45 minutes, with the attackers using RPGs and automatic assault weapons.

Afghan security forces are faced with a major challenge as U.S.-led NATO forces prepare to depart at yearend, and the Taliban steps up attacks leading to high government casualties.

Earlier on Thursday, a suicide bomber targeted a vehicle belonging to the British embassy vehicle, killing four Afghans and a British security assistant. Another 33 civilians suffered shrapnel wounds.

No British diplomats were in the vehicle at the time of the attack. Later information revealed two of the Afghans in the vehicle were British embassy employees. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least eight blasts have hit Kabul over the last 10 days, one of them wounding a female Afghan member of parliament.

TagsKabul, British Embassy