At Least 13 Dead in Attack on American University of Afghanistan

An attack by unkown gunmen has left 13 dead and dozens of wounded Wednesday at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, officials said. Explosions and gunfire were reported inside the campus where foreign staff and hundreds of students were barricaded inside, an interior ministry spokesperson said.

Authorities said the dead included seven students, one teacher, three police officers and two security guards.

Military special forces surrounded the compound as night fell and witnesses reported hearing continuing gunfire throughout the evening. Police, said two gunmen had made it past the university’s security after a suicide bomber, detonated explosives in a vehicle to clear an entrance, the bomber and the gunmen were also killed.

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Ahmad Shaheer, a university student told Reuters by cellphone that he and classmates were barricaded inside a classroom while the gunfire continued to ring out.

"We are stuck inside our classroom and there are bursts of gunfire," he said.

It is the second time this month that the university or its staff have been targeted. On August 7 two teachers – one a U.S. citizen, and the other from Australian – were abducted at gunpoint. Both remain missing.