Suicide attackers have stormed the British Council office in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing¹ at least eight people, with fears the toll² may rise.

自杀式袭击者攻击了阿富汗首都喀布尔的英国文化协会办公室，杀死至少8人，死亡人数恐怕将继续上升。

After at least three explosions, a number of heavily armed men forced their way into the compound.

Gunfire can still be heard in the area, which was rocked by another explosion several hours after the attack began.

The Taliban said the attack marked the anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from the UK in 1919.

A UK Foreign Office spokeswoman later said: "We can confirm there was an attack against a British Council compound in Afghanistan.

"The embassy is co-ordinating with the Afghan authorities, who are dealing³ with the incident."

Wall collapsed⁴

It was a three-phase attack, intelligence sources told the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul: First, a suicide attacker detonated（引爆） his explosive vest at the main square where police were guarding a key intersection⁵ shortly after 05:30 (01:08 GMT) in western Kabul.

Ten minutes later, a suicide car bomber⁶ detonated his vehicle outside the front gate of the British Council, adds our correspondent.

As the area was evacuated⁷, local shopkeepers say as many as nine suicide attackers armed with rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and AK 47s started firing as they ran towards the British Council building.

They have exchanged fire with police for hours and sporadic⁸（零星的） gunfire can still be heard in the area, residents say.

"We believe there are eight to nine suicide attackers hiding inside the British Council building," police sources told the BBC.

They said the attackers had heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades（手榴弹） and hand grenades.

"They have brought enough weapons to fight for a day.''

It was not immediately clear whether the militants⁹ managed to enter the building itself after forcing their way into the compound.

British forces later arrived at the scene with Afghan police providing support, Kabul officials told the BBC.

One of the wall of the compound collapsed after the blasts, and there are fears that a number of Afghan policemen are buried in the rubble¹⁰.

The British Council is government-funded agency which runs mainly cultural programmes.

The Afghan authorities earlier stepped up security in the capital, amid fears an attack could be imminent¹¹（迫近的） on the public holiday.

However, the Taliban have recently shown that they can strike pretty much anywhere in Afghanistan, reports the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.