KABUL, Afghanistan — An all-night siege in an upscale neighborhood of the Afghan capital, Kabul, ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning with the deaths of four heavily armed Taliban attackers, though no civilians or security personnel were injured or killed, an Afghan official said.
The attack came amid intensified fighting across many parts of Afghanistan, following the start in late April of the annual Taliban warm-weather offensive. A Taliban attack on a guesthouse in another part of Kabul earlier this month left 14 people dead, including nine foreigners.
Wednesday’s siege ended after 5 a.m. in a sustained barrage of automatic weapons fire and a series of huge explosions that resounded across the Wazir Akbar Khan district of downtown Kabul, home to many embassies and foreign firms.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned “the terrorist attack” and praised the quick response of security forces, which he said had prevented civilian casualties.