Explosions and gunfire in central Kabul attack near Iraqi embassy

Afghan police say a car bombing has targeted the Iraqi Embassy in central Kabul, followed by gunfire, and that the attack is still underway. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attack was still underway as witnesses reported hearing gunshots around the site of the explosion. Details were sketchy as police cordoned off the area of the firefight.

Two police officials said the car bomb exploded outside the embassy, followed by an attempt by gunmen to enter the building, which is located in the center of the Afghan capital. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, Najib Danish, told CBS News it was a terrorist attack against the embassy.

"Civilians are being evacuated," an official who declined to be named told the AFP news agency.

It was not immediately clear how many gunmen were involved in the attack. A police officer in the area, who identified himself only as Abdullah, said the gunfire was initially intense but was now sporadic. The area was surrounded by armored vehicles and a large contingent of police and Afghan soldiers.

At least one eyewitness, a store owner who goes by the name of Hafizullah - many Afghans use only one name - said he saw the bodies of two policemen on the ground before armored personnel carriers and police arrived to cordon off the area.

"The explosion was so strong. I was so afraid," said Maryam, a woman crying near the site of the attack said. She said she works at the nearby office of Afghanistan's National Airline Ariana.

The Iraq Embassy is located in a part of the city known as Shahr-e-Now, which lies outside the so-called "green zone" where most foreign embassies and diplomatic missions are located and which is heavily fortified with a phalanx of guards and giant cement blast walls.

By comparison, the Iraqi Embassy is located on a small street in a neighborhood dominated by markets and businesses. span>

The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.

After Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition, recaptured the city of Mosul from ISIS earlier in July, the Iraq Embassy had called reporters to its offices in Kabul to express concerns that the local ISIS affiliate might stage large-scale attacks elsewhere to draw away attention from the militant group's losses in Iraq.