Heavy Gunfire, Explosions Heard in Afghanistan's Capital

Heavy gunfire and explosions echoed through an upscale neighborhood in Afghanistan's capital late Tuesday night, as police surrounded a guesthouse thought to be under attack by insurgents.
The firefight in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, which is home to several embassies, sounded to be focused on the Rabbani Guesthouse. It began with heavy explosions accompanied by sporadic automatic weapon fire. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid intensified fighting across many parts of Afghanistan since the Taliban launched their warm weather offensive a month ago. Taliban militants attacked a guesthouse days earlier this month in Kabul, killing an American, a British citizen, an Italian, four Indian nationals, five Afghans and two Pakistanis. The United Nations already has documented a record high number of civilian casualties, 974 killed and 1,963 injured, in the first four months of 2015, a 16 percent increase over the same period last year. Afghan security forces have been struggling to fend off Taliban attacks since U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year.