Taliban insurgents attack US consulate in Herat
Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have attacked the US consulate in the western city of Herat.
The Taliban told the BBC a suicide bomber had detonated explosives outside the building before dawn on Friday.
Other fighters then opened fire on the consulate. Several Afghan police are reported to have been killed and injured in the gun battle.
It is the latest in a series of attacks ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014.
An Afghan army spokesman told the BBC that the initial explosion had damaged outer defences of the US consulate, allowing the attackers to breach the perimeter and shoot at the consulate buildings. The bomb had been placed in a vehicle.