The Japanese Embassy in Kabul on Sunday evacuated all staff to a nearby air-raid shelter after at least three rocket-propelled grenades landed in the compound when insurgents launched an attack on the Afghan capital's diplomatic quarters.

No one was apparently injured, the embassy said.

According to witnesses, the insurgents holed up in a building that was under construction and fired rocket-propelled grenades toward an area populated by several Western embassies, initiating firefights with security forces.

In a text message to the Associated Press, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that a group of suicide bombers has launched an attack on NATO's local headquarters, Parliament and diplomatic residences in Kabul.

The first of the dozens of explosions rocked the central Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood, which is home to a number of embassies and a NATO base.

The havoc sent bystanders fleeing indoors, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

According to local media, three of Afghanistan's other eastern cities came under attack at about the same time.