A Brit is among at least 10 people who have been killed after a deadly Taliban attack on a UK security firm’s office.
Five employees were killed and 32 injured after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-packed truck into the gate of the G4S compound in Kabul.
It was followed by an hours-long gun battle with insurgents armed with grenades and automatic rifles.
Charlie Burbridge, managing director of G4S Risk Management Group, said: “It is with great sadness that we can confirm five employees were killed ... in an unprovoked, criminal attack.
"Next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have died and been injured, and our brave team in Afghanistan who have lost colleagues and friends.
"We are offering support and counselling.”
The firm, which is one of the largest private security companies in the world, provides security for companies and organisations working in Afghanistan.
Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said a suicide bomber detonated his explosives before other insurgents started a gun battle with security forces. It allowed some gunmen to enter the G4S compound.
Public health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh added that four of the dead were attackers.
The assault left a huge crater at the compound gates and caused huge damage to nearby buildings and vehicles.
The Taliban, who claimed responsibility for the attack, say it was retaliation for a U.S. airstrike in southern Helmand hours earlier that killed 30 people, many of them civilians.
The Foreign Office said it was working with authorities to establish further details.
The attack came just hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced plans for peace talks with the Taliban.
On Tuesday, three US servicemen were killed and three more wounded in an explosion near Ghazni.
Last week at least 55 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated during a meeting of clerics in a Kabul meeting hall.
