KABUL, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide attack on a well-known, heavily fortified foreign contractor compound in Kabul on Wednesday capped a particularly violent several days in the Afghan capital.

A truck bomb was detonated Wednesday night outside the main gates of the Green Village compound, located on the eastern outskirts of the city. After the explosion, three gunmen rushed the housing complex, attempting to enter the apartments of foreign workers, Kabul police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanakzai told Stars and Stripes.

The main headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force and the U.S. Embassy, both located miles from the bomb site in central Kabul, were placed on security lockdown at the time of the attack.

During the ensuing gunfight, all three attackers were killed by security forces, Stanakzai said.

Two foreign workers and one Afghan security guard were wounded, but Stanakzai declined to identify the nationality of the injured workers.

By Thursday morning, armed guards from the Interior Ministry had secured the location and begun clearing debris. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the strike, saying the compound was deliberately targeted by the group’s fighters.

Home to a number of foreign workers associated with various international nongovernmental organizations and private contracting firms, the Green Village has been a frequent target for the Taliban. Wednesday night’s bombing was the third time in as many years that the secure compound has been hit.

On Tuesday, a car bomb went off at the main gate of the Kabul compound of the Supreme Group logistics company, and two gunmen attempted to fight their way inside. That compound is located in the same eastern Kabul neighborhood as the Green Village.

The two attackers and two Afghan security guards were killed during that attack. Three civilians were injured.

The dual attacks were the latest in a recent surge of violence in the city, including the attempted assassination of Kabul Police Chief Gen. Mohammad Zahir Zahir by a Taliban suicide bomber on Nov. 9 and another attack last Sunday, in which three people were killed when a suicide bomber hit the convoy of Afghan parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai in Kabul.

The attacks come as U.S. and NATO forces prepare to end combat operations in the country and hand over those missions to national security forces in December.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

munoz.carlo@stripes.com Twitter: @NatSecCarlo