Kabul hotel attack ends after 3 Taliban fighters killed

A Taliban attack on a Kabul hotel housing foreign contractors ended after all three Taliban fighters were killed, around seven hours after the assault began, police said.

"The operation is over now. One policeman lost his life and three others were wounded but none of the hotel staff or guests were hurt," Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters.

A massive Taliban truck bomb struck the hotel for foreigners on the outskirts of Kabul, just days after the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital for 15 years.

There was no immediate word on casualties from the powerful bombing, which occurred close to a military base next to Kabul's international airport, and rattled windows several kilometres away.
 
The attack on Northgate, a heavily guarded compound for foreign contractors which was previously attacked in July 2013, underscores the worsening security situation as the Taliban ramp up their annual summer offensive.