Didn’t this just happen in Saigon?

“US embassy in Kabul under attack - live updates

• Coordinated attacks in three areas of Kabul
• Rockets fired at US embassy and ISAF HQ
• Seven Afgans reported killed in attack

11.31am: The US embassy in Kabul has come under attack. Jeremy Kelly, in Kabul, writes:

Explosions and gunfire rattled Kabul this morning after militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests attacked government buildings, the US embassy, and Nato's main military base in the Afghan capital.

Witnesses said that some of the attackers were firing from positions in a tall, half-complete building behind the embassy.

A series of explosions could be heard in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan area, where many embassies and foreign aid agencies reside.

A Taliban spokesman said several attackers with rocket-propelled grenades, AK-47s and suicide vests had taken up positions to attack government buildings.

"The primary targets of the attackers are the intelligence agency building and a ministry," Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by phone.

At least six loud explosions were heard, and the headquarters of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force was also reported to have come under attack.

Television pictures from near the attack showed a burned out minivan, a bicycle lying in the middle of the street and people running away.

Police and other security officials blocked roads around the US embassy and other diplomatic missions. "There are several armed attackers in Abdul Haq Square," Mohammad Zahir, head of Kabul's Crime Investigation Unit told the Associated Press.

At least four civilians have been wounded, according to Nadira Hayat Burhani, the deputy head of the health ministry. BBC correspondent Quentin Somerville tweeted that a rocket had landed 100 metres from the BBC office in Wazir Akbar Khan that could have been shot over the embassy.

He said US marines were on the roof of the embassy and sirens could be heard coming from ISAF.

The city has been on a heightened security alert in recent weeks following a series of attacks including one on the British Council last month.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths and record civilian casualties.”