Kabul - Attacks on and near several foreign embassies rocked Kabul on Sunday, as gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades into the residences of Western diplomats near the so-called "green zone" of the Afghan capital. According to Reuters, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the coordinated attacks, "saying their main targets were the German and British embassies and the headquarters of Afghanistan's NATO-led force." Two rockets hit a British Embassy guard tower near Reuters' Kabul offices, the news service said. A supermarket near the German embassy was also struck. According to the New York Times, gunfire and "several explosions broke out near the German and British embassies and a major NATO military camp, usually a heavily guarded area of the Afghan capital" just after 1:35 p.m. local time. Rockets landed near the British and Canadian embassies and World Bank office, the paper reported. CNN reported that attackers took over a central Kabul hotel close to the presidential palace, United Nations office and several foreign embassies--and that the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message. Kabul police said there were at least two other attacks in progress near the presidential palace and Parliament. A NATO spokesman confirmed the attacks, according to the Times, in as many as seven locations. US army forces there were seen moving through the area, though the US embassy did not sustain an attack, reports said. In September 2011, suicide bombers led a 19-hour attack on the US embassy.
