Officials say all the insurgents² were killed after heavy clashes. The Taliban say they carried out the attack .

 

President Hamid Karzai was in the palace, but the target appears to have been the nearby Ariana hotel, believed to house a CIA base.

 

This is the latest in a string of attacks on Kabul in recent months.

 

Most recently a suicide bomber³ in the capital targeted a prominent Afghan politician on 18 June, just hours before Nato formally handed security responsibility to the Afghan forces. 

 

With this attack the Taliban infiltrated⁴ one of the most heavily-guarded areas of the capital, with several key buildings such as the defence ministry⁵ and Nato headquarters located very close by.

 

The Afghan Taliban have showed no sign of abating⁶ their assault on security targets, despite last week's announcement that it had set up an office in the Gulf⁷ state of Qatar for US-led peace talks. 

 

President Karzai raised strong objections saying that the flag and nameplate initially⁸ erected⁹ at the building showed that the office purported¹⁰ to be a government-in-exile. 

 

Officials say the High Peace Council, the Afghan government body set up to lead peace efforts, would not take part unless the talks process was "Afghan-led".

 

The attack near the presidential palace, in the central district of Shash Darak, began at about 06:30 local time (02:00 GMT).

 

The militants initially targeted the palace's eastern gate - a few hundred metres from the actual building - where dozens of journalists had gathered for a news conference with Mr Karzai scheduled for 09:00. 

 

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary, who was among the crowd of journalists, says they were forced to run for cover as bullets flew overhead. 

 

The journalists heard several explosions, and reports said grenades were being thrown. Tolo TV reported as many as 14 blasts.

 

Our correspondent says the area around the palace, which is patrolled regularly throughout the day by special forces and intelligence agents, is now under lockdown.

 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a text message: "A number of martyrs¹¹ attacked the presidential palace, defence ministry and the Ariana Hotel."

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