Suicide bomber, gunmen attack Kabul hotel–NATO

Kabul–Taliban insurgents have launched a suicide attack on a wedding party at a hotel in a popular Kabul beauty spot, NATO and police said Friday, with Afghan casualties reported.

Afghan security forces and coalition troops are fighting the militants at the site at Qaghar Lake, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told AFP.

The target of the attack appeared to be Afghan police and civilians, ISAF said.

Mohammad Zahir, the head of Kabul police criminal investigation department, said the attack began around 11:30 pm (1900 GMT) on Thursday, when two or three suicide attackers armed with rockets and Kalashnikov rifles stormed a wedding party.

At least one of the attackers detonated his explosive suicide vest, Zahir said.

The attacks sparked a gun battle which is on-going.