1 killed, 14 injured as militants attack American University of Afghanistan in Kabul

Afghanistan: One student has been killed and more than 14 others wounded while foreign staff and students remain trapped inside the campus of the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul after it was attacked by militants with explosives and gunfire on Wednesday said a senior government official.

official of the interior ministry said that elite Afghan forces had surrounded the university compound, where shooting lasted for over an hour.

Witnesses at the scene of the attack said gunfire had since stopped, and special forces had made their way into the compound.

Head of hospitals in Kabul, Mohammad Saleem Rasouly told Reuters that at least one student had been killed and 14 others injured.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the university yet.

Official said early reports indicated that several gunmen, some wearing suicide vests, were involved in the attack.

"Several gunmen attacked the American University in Kabul and there are reports of gunfire and explosions," he said.

"They are inside the compound and there are foreign professors along with hundreds of students."

In a phone conversation, a student of the school Ahmad Shaheer, told Reuters that he was trapped inside the university.

"We are stuck inside our classroom and there are bursts of gunfire," he said.

This marks the second time this month that the university or its staff have been targeted by militants as two teachers, an American and an Australian, are still missing after they were kidnapped at gunpoint from a nearby road on August 7.