Five insurgents planning a suicide attack in Kabul have been killed in a pre-dawn gunbattle in the capital, an Afghan security official said on Thursday.
At least two others were still holed up in a house in the east of the city and the fighting was continuing, National Directorate of Security spokesman Lutfullah Mahsal told AFP.
A spokesman for NATO's military in Afghanistan confirmed that "an incident of that nature is currently happening in Kabul", without providing further details.
"A group of insurgents armed with suicide vests, rockets and machineguns planned to seize a tall building in Kabul's Shar-i-Naw area," Mahsal said.
Acting on intelligence, security forces raided a house in the eastern Pul-e-Charkhi neighbourhood and a gunfight erupted, he said.
"There has been an ongoing gunfight since the first hours of this morning. So far, five of the men are dead and two or possibly more are still fighting."
Mahsal said a mini-van full of explosives had also been found in the house.
On April 15, in the biggest coordinated attack on the capital in 10 years of war, three squads of suicide attackers took up positions in high buildings under construction and fired on government offices, embassies and military bases.
Seventeen hours of fighting left 51 dead, including 36 attackers.
{{/usCountry}}Seventeen hours of fighting left 51 dead, including 36 attackers.
{{/usCountry}}NATO has some 130,000 US-led troops in Afghanistan helping the government fight an insurgency by hardline Taliban Islamists.