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Explosion, Gunfight Near U.S. Consulate in Afghanistan

Photo: Aref Karimi/AFP/Getty Images

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for an attack in which a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the U.S. consulate in Herat, in Western Afghanistan, then militants began firing on the compound. The casualty count is still emerging, but the Associated Press reports two Afghan security personnel were killed, with several others wounded, as well as five attackers killed. The attack reportedly began around 6 a.m. when a car bomb exploded about 60 yards from the consulate. “An Afghan army spokesman told the BBC that the initial explosion had damaged outer defenses of the US consulate, allowing the attackers to breach the perimeter and shoot at the consulate buildings,” the BBC reported. U.S. Special Forces reportedly secured the compound, and a consulate spokesman told the AP that “all consulate personnel are safe and accounted for.”

This story has been updated throughout.

Explosion Near U.S. Consulate in Afghanistan