A standoff at a guesthouse in Afghanistan’s capital ended early Wednesday with four attackers dead, an Interior Ministry official said.

Heavy gunfire and explosions rocked the upscale Wazir Akbar Khan district in Kabul as Afghan security forces clashed with the attackers in the area that is home to several embassies and government buildings.

Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayub Salangi said there were no civilian or military casualties, and that the assailants were armed with automatic rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as the militants intensify their annual spring-summer offensive.

Taliban fighters attacked another guesthouse earlier this month in Kabul, killing an American, a British citizen, an Italian, four Indian nationals, five Afghans and two Pakistanis. 

Afghan security forces have been struggling to fend off Taliban attacks since U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year.
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