A group of suicide bombers attacked a U.S. aid compound in northern Afghanistan early Friday, killing at least four people and wounding several others, officials said.
As many as three of the dead are believed to be foreigners, the New York Times reported.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn raid on the housing compound in Kunduz.
A lone suicide bomber blew a hole in the wall around the compound used by Development Alternatives Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based global consulting company on contract with the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID). The company is working on governance and community development in the area.
At least five other attackers then ran inside the building, killing or wounding security guards and others before dying in a gun battle with Afghan security forces who raced to the scene.
"This complex commando-style raid sparked a six-hour firefight," journalist Tom Popyk said from Afghanistan. "Security forces inside battled the bombers as coalition forces outside treated civilian casualties and then counter-attacked."
The bodies of the victims were found inside amid rubble, pools of blood and broken glass. Stunned aid workers were led from the scene as NATO troops carried bodies wrapped in black plastic out on stretchers.
"This attack shows the insurgents' desire to prevent progress, and draws attention to their true goal of serving themselves rather than the people of Afghanistan," said navy Capt. Jane Campbell, a spokesman for the NATO mission, referring to the Kunduz attack.
No international troops were wounded in the attack, Campbell said.
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Gen. Abdul Razaq Yaqoubi, police chief in Kunduz province, said those killed included an Afghan policeman, an Afghan man who worked as a security guard at the house and two foreigners. The German Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press in Berlin that a German citizen was killed in the attack.
"It was 3 o'clock in the morning, close to the morning prayer time, when a suicide bomber in a 4x4 vehicle exploded his vehicle," Yaqoubi said as Afghan national security forces were battling to kill the last surviving attacker. "There is no way for him to escape."
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Kabul that six suicide bombers attacked a "training centre" for Afghan security forces in Kunduz and killed 55 foreigners. The Taliban often exaggerate their claims, and the numbers they provided could not be verified.
The attack appeared to be part of a Taliban campaign against development projects at a time when the U.S. and its allies are trying to bolster civilian programs to shore up the Afghan government. On Wednesday, militants fired rockets at a base for South Korean construction workers in Parwan province but caused no casualties.
In April, a gunman killed an 18-year-old woman working for Development Alternatives as she left her job in the southern city of Kandahar. Police believed the killing was part of a Taliban campaign against Afghans working for foreign development organizations.
Also Wednesday, the Taliban attacked an airfield outside Jalalabad. In late May, insurgents launched an attack on Kandahar Airfield.
Suicide bombers and insurgents also attacked the giant U.S.-run Bagram Airfield north of Kabul in May, leading to a deadly clash that left several insurgents dead.