KABUL (Agencies) - Five Taliban attackers laid siege to a British cultural centre in the Afghan capital Friday, killing at least ten people during an hours-long assault on the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from British rule. A suicide bomber in car blew himself up in front of the gate of the British Council in Kabul before dawn, and another car packed with explosives detonated moments later while four attackers, three of them men clad in the burqa headcovering worn by Afghan women, stormed the compound, police said. Scores of Afghan and NATO troops surrounded a compound strewn with wooden and metal debris while two helicopters hovered on watch above as the fighting progressed over at least eight hours, interspersed by a total of eight blasts. Toward the end, the last of the four attackers who fought into the compound holed himself up in the bulletproof basement of the shattered building. There was only one option left to get him out, authorities said: blow him up. A Reuters witness heard two big blasts in close succession near the siege's end, around 1 pm Kabul time (4:30 a.m. EDT). "Eight members of the Afghan national police and one foreign soldier were killed," Mohammad Zahir, head of criminal investigations for the Kabul police said. He said he was not able to confirm the nationality of the foreign soldier. A ministry of interior spokesman said at least 16 people were wounded in the attack on the British Council, a state-funded agency running mainly cultural programs. It is not part of the main British embassy in Kabul's diplomatic zone. Two British nationals and one South African were inside the compound during the attack, but were later rescued by an elite Afghan unit, British Ambassador to Afghanistan Sir William Patey told a press conference. "This was a dastardly, cowardly attack designed to attack British interests, but ultimately ending in the deaths of many Afghans and we regret the death of the Afghans," Patey said, adding that the attack was over. Kabul police chief Mohammad Ayob Salongi said four Afghan police, three Nepalese British Council guards and one Afghan street cleaner were killed. He too had no details on the nationality of the foreign soldier. A Reuters photograph taken at the scene showed what appeared to be a white male being lifted onto a stretcher with blood across his back and wound to the back of his head. A second photo showed a Union Jack insignia on his left shoulder, and a different uniform than those worn by council's guards. "There's no confirmation on whether the foreign soldier who was wounded was killed," Patey said, also declining to reveal the nationality. The Taliban said they were sending two messages: "One to the Afghan government and one to the British," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by phone. "We are now reminding them that we will become independent again from all foreigners, especially from the British," Mujahid said, referring to Afghanistan's independence from British rule 92 years ago, which the country was marking on Friday amid heightened security. Mujahid declined to say how many bombers the group used for the attacks, which come a month after NATO handed over security responsibilities to the Afghans in several areas across the country, as part of a gradual transition process to be completed by the end of 2014. Afghan forces have been given responsibility for the city of Kabul since 2008, when NATO handed over security control, but in reality NATO forces still police the area heavily. An Afghan interior ministry spokesman said one or two foreigners had been killed or wounded in an attack targeting the British Council cultural body's offices in the Afghan capital Kabul Friday. Meanwhile, a Polish soldier was killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling in Afghanistan Thursday, Warsaw's contingent in the country said Friday, bringing to 29 the number of Polish soldiers who have died there. The 28-year-old victim, Sergeant Szymon Sitarczuk was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the central province of Ghazni. Following the explosion, Polish troops were fired on and returned fire, the Polish PAP news agency reported. Another Polish soldier, as well as two Afghan police officers were injured in the explosion and were evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in the Polish base.