Kabul hotel attacked by suicide bombers

Gun battles raged for hours between the attackers and security services during the raid at the Afghan capital's Intercontinental Hotel.

The attack happened on the eve of a conference to discuss transferring responsibility for security from foreign to Afghan forces.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the raid.

"Two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopters have just engaged three individuals on the roof," coalition spokesman Major Tim James said.

"The indications are that the three individuals on the roof have been killed."

Kabul Police Chief, General Mohammad Ayub Salangi, said 10 Afghan civilians - mostly hotel workers - died in the attack launched by six to eight suicide bombers.

One of the militants reportedly blew himself up in a hotel room.

Police fought back with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades during the night-time raid.

The US State department has issued a statement confirming "all Chief of Mission personnel are accounted for".

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to The Associated Press.

Times correspondent Jerome Starkey, who is near the hotel, told Sky News he heard short bursts of gunfire, but fighting appeared to have died down by 10pm UK time.

Several reports said wedding guests who were celebrating in the building at the time managed to flee the attack.

Local and provincial politicians, gathered for the security conference, were trapped inside but were not hurt.

Nazar Ali Wahedi, chief of intelligence for Helmand province in the south, called the assailants "the enemy of stability and peace".

"Our room was hit by several bullets," Wahedi said. "We spent the whole night in our room."

Streets leading to the hotel were blocked and the building was left in darkness after power in the area was cut.

Police ordered bystanders to lay on the ground for safety as bursts of gunfire were heard.

Initial reports suggested as many six suicide bombers had entered the building, while police said at least four bombers were involved.

A manager at ToloNews TV station in Afghanistan said on Twitter militants had shown "tough resistance" to security forces in a firefight.

Jawid, a guest at the hotel, said he jumped out of a one-storey window to flee the shooting.

He told reporters: "I was running with my family. There was shooting. The restaurant was full with guests."

Bette Dam, a journalist in Kabul, told news crews she had heard loud explosions.

She said rocket-propelled grenades appeared to have been launched from the roof of the hotel towards the house of Afghanistan's first vice president.

The US-led military coalition said the Afghan Ministry of Interior had not requested any assistance from foreign forces.

The venue is one of two hotels popular with Westerners visiting Afghanistan's capital. It was busy with foreign journalists after the war in the country began in 2001.

The hotel, which stands on a hill overlooking the city, is heavily guarded with "airport-style" security and checkpoints.

In recent years Intercontinental Kabul, established in 1969, has had to compete for foreign guests with another five-star venue in the city.

Attacks in Kabul have been relatively rare in recent times, although violence has increased since the killing of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in early May .