Afghanistan unrest: Taliban attack Kabul airport

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

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.

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.