US citizen and three attackers among at least nine dead in Kabul siege

At least nine people, including three attackers, have been killed after a seven-hour siege at a guesthouse in Kabul.

Gunmen stormed the venue, popular with foreigners visiting the Afghan capital, ahead of a planned concert.

Local officials said the attackers planned to carry out a suicide bombing.

“Three attackers have been killed. They didn’t get the chance to detonate their suicide vests,” Kabul deputy police chief Sayed Gul Agha Rohani said.

“We are still trying to identify the victims.”

An American citizen from Los Angeles, Amin Habi, was also killed according to NBC News.

At least five armed men attacked the Park Place guesthouse last night local time.

An Afghan-Canadian who managed to flee the hotel during the attack with several others told CNN he believed dozens of people were trapped inside. A US State Department official said more than 70 guests were at the hotel at the time.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban has previously carried out similar attacks on Kabul guesthouses.

"There was a concert planned to take place inside the Park Place tonight, with foreigners, mainly Indian and Turkish guests, invited," an Afghan intelligence official said.

Security forces which repeatedly tried to close in on the guesthouse were deflected by fierce gunfire.

This year marks the first fighting season in which Afghan forces are battling the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.