IS claims bomb attacks in Kabul

KABUL, May 09 (Al Jazeera): Casualties reported after explosions and gunfire ring out in the streets Kabul in an attack claimed by ISIL.

Gunmen set off at least three explosions in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and then battled security forces from buildings they occupied in the latest in a spate of violence to rock the city.

At least six people were wounded, said health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Majroh, adding that the casualty toll was likely to rise, according to the Reuters news agency.

Afghanistan's Western-backed government is fighting an intensifying war with both the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) that has turned much of Kabul into a high-security zone of concrete blast walls and razor wire.

IS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack. It said the attack occurred in Kabul's western Dasht-e-Barchi district but gave no details on any casualties.

The first blast was near a police station in Dasht-e-Barchi district at midday, said police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai.

Minutes later, two back-to-back explosions went off in the central Shar-e-Naw commercial district.

Najib Danish, spokesman for the interior ministry, said police were battling an unknown number of gunmen in both Dasht-e-Barchi and Shar-e-Naw, Reuters said.

"A number of gunmen at both sites under attack are engaged with the security forces," Danish said.