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Gunmen attack presidential palace in Kabul Gunmen attack presidential palace in Kabul
(35 minutes later)
Gunmen have attacked the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, with explosions and gunfire shaking the city centre. A group of Taliban suicide attackers has launched a dramatic attack near the presidential palace and CIA offices at the heart of Kabul's fortified diplomatic zone.
The attack began soon after 6.30am local time (3am BST) on the building's east gate. The attack kicked off just as journalists were gathering for security checks ahead of a presidential news conference. They reported seeing attackers exchange fire with guards at the presidential and intelligence agency headquarters.
Smoke rose from the gate of the palace after more than half a dozen explosions and at least 45 minutes of intermittent small arms fire. The president himself never appeared to be in danger, locked away behind several more walls inside the heavily fortified palace itself. One source who was inside the complex, which has outer walls several dozen metres thick in places, said the fighting never approached the inner area.
About 20 reporters gathering for a press event with President Hamid Karzai were trapped in front of the building. "We can hear the attack but it seems to be a little distance away," said the source, who asked not to be named as his job does not allow him to speak to the media.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for what they said was a suicide attack and said they were also targeting the nearby defence ministry and other buildings. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the first in the capital since they unveiled an office in Qatar and plans for peace talks.
"Today at 6.30am a number of martyrs attacked the presidential palace, defence ministry and the Ariana Hotel," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a text message. "At 6.30 this morning at the gate of the Arg [presidential palace], the site of the ministry of defence and the Ariana hotel [used as a CIA headquarters] several suicide attacks started," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a text message.
The Ariana Hotel is known to house the headquarters of the CIA in Afghanistan. There were more than half a dozen large explosions that were heard across the city and sent smoke billowing into the sky, and the attackers exchanged gunfire with security forces for about 90 minutes.
The BBC reported that the attackers were exchanging fire with Karzai's bodyguards and US personnel from the CIA station. The city police chief, General Ayoub Salangi, said all the attackers had been killed by around 8am and life in the city was slipping back into normal routines, although embassies and the Nato coalition remained locked down.
An al-Jazeera producer, Qais Azimy, who was on the scene, said smoke could be seen billowing from the CIA office.
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.
Police had no immediate comment.
It was not immedately clear whether Karzai was inside the building at the time of the assault.
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