U.S. military forces observe the wreckage of a car bomb near the U.S. consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, on Friday, September 13. Seven heavily armed Taliban suicide attackers struck the consulate, setting off two car bombs and sparking a shootout with U.S. forces.
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A huge explosion rocked the area near the U.S. consulate in Afghanistan's Herat province early Friday during a heavy gunfight between militants and security forces, officials said.
The attack occurred just before 6 a.m. local time when attackers sped towards the front gate of the consulate, said Marie Harf, a deputy State Department spokeswoman.
The attackers fired assault rifles starting a gun battle with Afghan security forces. During the battle, a truck exploded, Harf said, causing major damage to the front gate of the consulate.
U.S. troops led the investigation of the site of a suicide car bombing and a gunfight near the U.S. consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, on Friday, September 13. Taliban militants attacked the consulate using a car bomb and guns to battle security forces just outside the compound. An intercepted al Qaeda message led to the closing of 22 embassies and consulates across the Middle East and North Africa on August 4. Take a look at other attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in recent years.
Photos: Attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites
Taliban claim U.S. consulate attack
American consulate personnel took shelter in safe havens while U.S. security forces responded to the attack, Harf said. There were no U.S. casualties.
Seven attackers traveling in two vehicles took part in the assault and all of them were killed, said Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, deputy Afghan Interior Minister.
Three people, two local police officers and a local security guard, were killed, police and hospital officials said. Twenty others were injured.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail to CNN.
According to the SITE intelligence group, the Taliban said it killed and wounded dozens of International Security Assistance Force and Afghan soldiers. It said nine Taliban fighters died.
Another communique said the Taliban was behind a suicide bombing that killed dozens of Afghans in Paktika, SITE reported.
U.S. Ambassador James B. Cunningham condemned the attack and lamented the Afghan citizens who lost their lives.
"Many Afghan civilians were killed in the attack, along with others who work for the Consulate as contractors. We are deeply saddened by this senseless loss of life," he said in a statement.
Benghazi hit by blast on anniversary of U.S. consulate attack
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Afghan security officials help an injured colleague at the scene of an attack on September 13. At least three Afghan security officials were killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail to CNN.
Afghan security officials inspect the scene of the attack on September 13. Seven attackers traveling in two vehicles were killed, said Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, deputy Afghan interior minister.
Smoke rises after Taliban militants attacked the consulate. It was unclear whether any attackers managed to breach the facility.
Afghan security officials inspect the scene of the attack on September 13.
Afghan security officials help an injured colleague on September 13.
A damaged vehicle sits in front of the U.S. consulate on September 13. American consulate personnel took shelter in safe havens while U.S. security forces responded to the attack, Marie Harf, a deputy State Department spokeswoman, said. There were no U.S. casualties.
Afghanistan security forces take their position during an attack on the U.S. consulate on September 13. Gunmen staged an attack on the consulate killing two local police officers and a local security guard, police and hospital officials said. Twenty others were injured.
A suicide bomb goes off at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, on February 1. A security guard was killed and a journalist was wounded in the attack. The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, took responsibility for the bombing.
Demonstrators set the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, on fire on September 11, 2012. The U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. nationals were killed during the attack.
People flee the scene of a Taliban attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 13, 2011. Three police officers and one civilian were killed. There were no reports of U.S. casualties.
Officials examine the aftermath of a terrorist attack outside the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5, 2010. The coordinated attack involved a vehicle suicide bomb and attackers who tried to enter the consulate by using grenades and weapons fire. Two consulate security guards and at least six others were killed.
Yemeni soldiers carry the coffin of a comrade during a funeral on September 25, 2008, in Sanaa. Heavily armed fighters attacked the U.S. Embassy in Yemen on September 17. A car bomb was detonated, killing 10 Yemeni police and civilians and six attackers.
Relatives of slain police officers are comforted during a funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 10, 2008, a day after the U.S. Consulate there was attacked. Three police officers and three attackers were killed in what the American ambassador to the country called "an obvious act of terrorism" aimed at the U.S.
A bomb squad team collects evidence at a construction site where a rocket was launched near the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, on January 12, 2007. The anti-tank missile tore through the embassy, but there were no injuries.
A car exploded near the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, on September 12, 2006. Fourteen people were wounded. Syrian authorities killed three attackers and apprehended a suspect outside the building.
A U.S. diplomat and his driver were among at least four people killed on March 2, 2006, in an apparent suicide attack outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
An attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killed nine people on December 7, 2004. A Saudi group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack.
A Pakistani police officer stands guard outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi after a gunman opened fire there on February 28, 2003. Two police officers were killed, and six others, including one civilian, were injured.
Family members of a victim who was killed by a bomb a day earlier embrace at a hospital in Denpasar, Bali, on October 14, 2002. A series of bombs killed more than 200 people at nightclubs while another attack occurred near the U.S. Consulate on the Indonesian tourist island. Authorities believe the attacks were coordinated.
A previously unknown militant group called Al-Qanoon claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 10 people at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on June 14, 2002. The U.S. State Department says it suspects al Qaeda is responsible.
Police officers stand next to the body of a victim after a car bomb exploded on March 20, 2002, at a shopping center near the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, killing nine people.
Christopher Sandrolini, the U.S. consul general in Calcutta, speaks with Indian officials outside the U.S. government information center in Calcutta, near the U.S. Consulate, where heavily armed gunmen killed five Indian police officers on January 22, 2002.
Rescue workers stand on the remains of a building in front of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, on August 10, 1998, four days after a deadly attack. Twelve Americans were among more than 200 people killed in nearly simultaneous bombings at U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, center, walks past the damaged U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam on August 18, 1998. The August 7 attacks in Tanzania and Kenya were later attributed to al Qaeda.
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