Police say all militants involved in assault on Kabul's presidential palace are dead

       
The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosion rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace.         
Smoke rose from the eastern gate of the palace early on Tuesday after more than a half dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of on-and-off small arms fire.            

The early-morning attack came when reporters were gathering for a news conference called by President Hamid Karzai, who was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the Taliban.         

They sent a quick text-message statement saying "we brought death to the enemy."         

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the US Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces and where access is heavily restricted.          
It houses Karzai's residence but it was not immediately clear whether the president was in the building at the time and his spokesman did not answer his phone.           

Gunfire first erupted at around 6:30 a.m. (2:00 GMT) inside a heavily guarded area near the east gate leading to the palace.         

There was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack, though smoke could be seen coming from the area of the Ariana Hotel - a building that former US. Intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA - and the Afghan Ministry of Defense.          
General Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, the Kabul police chief, said the guards killed all the attackers.          

The Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghanistan government and just last week opened an office in Qatar for possible negotiations.               

But at the same time they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.            


AP