An award winning photographer has described the terrifying moment when he realised his class at the American University of Afghanistan had been attacked by militants.
The first Massoud Hossaini said he knew of the attack was a booming explosion on the southern flank of the campus while he was in a classroom with 15 students.
“I went to the window to see what was going on, and I saw a person in normal clothes outside. He shot at me and shattered the glass,” Mr Hossaini told the Associated Press, his employer, adding that he fell on the glass and cut his hands.
The students barricaded themselves into the classroom, pushing chairs and desks against the door, and staying on the floor.
For a brief time he kept up a chilling account of what was happening on Twitter, before deleting the messages.
He described being wounded and pleaded for help, fearing that he may have posted his last tweet.
Mr Hossaini - who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for a photograph of the aftermath of a suicide bombing - said he and about nine students managed to escape from the campus through a northern emergency gate.
Mr Hossaini and the nine students found shelter in a house near the campus, as the attack continued.
Mark English, the university president, told The Associated Press that security forces arrived on the scene soon after the attack began around at around 7pm local time and that “we are trying to assess the situation”.
Other witnesses say they heard explosions and automatic gunfire. Ambulances arrived at the campus in western Kabul, and early reports said one student had been killed and another 14 wounded.
Police spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said security forces entered the campus and “are trying to search for the terrorists”. He said police are also trying to evacuate all personnel from the campus. He had no further details on the nature of the attack.
The attack comes two weeks after two university staff were kidnapped from their car by unknown gunmen. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
The Taliban has been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government for 15 years, and regard foreign civilians as legitimate targets.
