According to media reports, Afghan police officials said the militants stormed a compound that belonged to Afghanistan’s intelligence service in Qala-e-Wazir district of Kabul at about 10:15 a.m. local time on Thursday.

Residents and witnesses in the area reported heavy clashes between the gunmen and Afghan security forces, and at least one explosion was heard.

Footage from the attack site showed armored vehicles and soldiers arriving at the scene.

Kabul police chief’s spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said staff and officials at the center had taken shelter in a protected area of the compound as gunfire came from a half-finished building near the site.

Stanekzai added that the security forces had cordoned off the area and were trying to evacuate residents in nearby buildings.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or the number of people holed up in the facility.

There was no claim of responsibility as of Thursday afternoon, either.

Separately on Thursday, Daesh claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kabul that tore through an educational center on Wednesday where teenagers had been studying for a university entrance examination.

The public health ministry has put the death toll at 40, and rights group Amnesty International condemned the attack as a “war crime”.