The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, with gunfire reported immediately after the explosion.
Eyewitnesses report an ongoing gun battle in the heavily protected area of the capital, near many foreign embassies and government buildings.
Several casualties have been brought to a nearby hospital.
At least three insurgents were involved in the attack, a police official said. One is thought to have been a suicide bomber while the rest are gunmen.
Members of Afghan Crisis Response Unit and Spanish security forces have arrived at the scene.
"We are under pressure, but we are OK," a Spanish official told the Wall Street Journal. "The situation is still going."
A Taliban spokesman said the attack targeted "an invader's guest house".
Although Spain contributed to the international force in Afghanistan, it withdrew the last of its troops in October - though a few officers remained at the headquarters of Nato's Resolute Support Mission in Kabul.
Additional reporting by Reuters
