Afghanistan unrest: Taliban attack Kabul airport

Afghan police arrived soon after the attack began and appear to have surrounded the attackers

Heavily armed militants have attacked Kabul International Airport with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, Afghan police say.

The Taliban has said it carried out the attack.
Eyewitnesses said the militants took over an unused building near the heavily guarded airport.
Airport officials told Reuters news agency that all flights had now been diverted to other Afghan cities. There are no reports yet of any casualties.

Police took shelter from small arms fire as well as rocket-propelled grenades

Eyewitness Ramin Anwari told the BBC that neighbours were woken by the sound of fighting.
"I could hear more than 10 explosions, some really heavy, in a matter of some minutes coming from the area across the airport," he said.
Afghan police and special forces are currently engaged with the militants in buildings near the airport, and reports suggest they have surrounded them.
An interior ministry official told the BBC that the airport itself had not been damaged in the attack, claiming "not a single rocket" had landed inside.
Presidential dispute The airport attack comes two days after at least 42 people were killed in a suicide attack at a market in Paktika province in the east of the country.
Earlier this week Afghanistan's two presidential candidates reached a deal to resolve a dispute over the results of last month's presidential election.

The contenders, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, agreed to accept the outcome of a vote audit after earlier allegations of voter fraud.
The dispute had revived fears for Afghanistan's stability after the withdrawal of US-led forces later this year.