Bomb hits near US consulate in Afghanistan MILITANTS have staged a suicide car bombing and engaged in a gunfight with security forces near the American consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat. An Afghan translator has been killed, while several other people, including police, have been wounded. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday, which underscores the perilous security situation in Afghanistan, where US-led troops are reducing their presence ahead of a full withdrawal planned for next year. The insurgent strikes are no longer concentrated in the country's south and east, but occur with troubling frequency in the north and west, which have been the more peaceful areas in years past. A US Embassy spokesman in Kabul has declined immediate comment. The attack began around 6am with the powerful explosion. The car bomber detonated his explosives just 60 metres away from the consulate compound, said Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, the governor of Herat province. Other militants then began firing on security forces in the area. General Rahmatullah Safi, chief of police in Herat province, said an Afghan translator who apparently worked at the consulate has died, while two police and two private Afghan security guards at the US post were wounded. One police officer was caught under some rubble in the area, and it was not immediately clear if he was killed. An unclear number of civilians are also wounded, Safi said. The governor put the number at seven. The police chief, speaking around an hour after the attack started, says the situation has been brought under control, but that security forces are searching for any militants who might have escaped. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, has claimed responsibility on behalf of the militant group.