Gunmen stormed a television station in Kabul on Tuesday and many staff were still in the building, an employee told AFP, describing the attack as ongoing.
“I saw three attackers on security cameras entering the TV station building. They first shot the guard and then entered the building. They started throwing grenades and firing,” said Shamshad TV reporter Faisal Zaland, who escaped through a back door.
Shamshad TV, a Pashto language station that broadcasts nationwide, was transmitting a holding image instead of its normal programming.
Mr. Zaland told AFP that security forces were in the area of the Shamshad compound in the Afghan capital “trying to bring down the attackers”.
“Many of my colleagues are still in the building,” he added.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied the militant group was involved in the attack in a Twitter post.
The interior ministry told AFP it was investigating the incident but had no further details.
Kabul has been rocked by a series of deadly attacks in recent weeks as the Taliban and Islamic State insurgents step up offensives against security installations and mosques.
Last Tuesday a suicide bomber, believed to have been as young as 12, struck Kabul’s heavily fortified diplomatic quarter and killed at least five people, showing that militants can still hit the heart of the city despite tighter security.
