Kabul Park Palace Hotel attack kills 14
Fourteen people have been killed in an attack on a Kabul hotel which was packed with foreigners awaiting a concert, according to Afghan officials.
As well as Afghan civilians, the dead include one Briton with dual Afghan nationality, four Indians, two Pakistanis, and one citizen from each of the US, Italy and Kazakhstan.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The incident at the Park Palace Hotel began early on Wednesday evening.
Gunfire could still be heard from the guesthouse in central Kabul five hours later as Afghan forces retook the building room by room.
Some reports said that two suspected gunmen were among the dead - police said they were shot before they could carry out a suicide attack.
The gunmen reportedly went room to room seeking foreigners.
Georgette Gagnon, of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ,condemned the attack as an "atrocity".
"Taliban statements on avoiding civilian casualties ring hollow when we set them against the latest killings," she said.
Security forces rescued more than 50 people who had been at a party in the garden of the hotel, where a well known Afghan classical singer was due to perform.
"The attack was planned carefully to target the party in which important people and Americans were attending," the Taliban said in a statement.
India's Prime Minister Nahendra Modi tweeted that he had spoken to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about the attack.
"We are one when it comes to fighting terror," he said. He added that the president "expressed sadness on the unfortunate demise of Indian citizens in the attack".
US embassy spokeswoman Monica Cummings confirmed that one US citizen had died in the attack.
"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims at this time," Cummings said.
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