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A spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan has told Al Jazeera that they carried out an attack on a guest house used by United Nations staff in the heart of the capital, Kabul.
The UN has said five of its staff were killed in the attack on the Bakhtar guest house, although no other details have been released.
Police officials have told Al Jazeera that all three attackers were killed, as well as three Afghan security personnel, after several hours of intense fighting.
As that stand-off came to an end, a five star hotel, The Serena, was hit by mortar fire.
Witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from the top of the building but the attack did not cause any casualties.
The hotel, located close to the presidential palace and used regularly by visiting diplomats and journalists, was the scene of a 2008 Taliban attack which killed six people.
High security
The attack early on Wednesday morning in central Kabul took place in a high security zone in the heart of the Afghan capital, close to several heavily-guarded government buildings.
Aleem Saddique, a UN spokesman in Kabul, told Al Jazeera it was too early to say what impact the attack would have on operations in Afghanistan, but said that the safety of all staff was the organization's top priority.
Gunfire and explosions were heard shortly before dawn on Wednesday and a large column of smoke was seen rising over the centre of the city as armed police jeeps and fire engines raced to the scene.
A police source has told Al Jazeera that the attack involved three Taliban fighters armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
All three were also wearing bombing vests, the source said.
Al Jazeera's cameraman at the scene of the attack said several UN staff appeared to have been wounded as they scrambled to get out of the compound when the attack began.
A spokesman for the Taliban also confirmed to Al Jazeera that the group was behind the attack, adding that the UN had been attacked because it was involved in organizing Afghanistan's presidential elections, the second round of which is due to be held on November 7.
The area around the guest house was sealed off by Afghan police and army as well as US military personnel.
Initial reports had said the attack was aimed at a US military facility in the city.
High alert
Kabul has been on high alert for attacks from Taliban fighters as preparations continue for the runoff presidential vote.
Last week the Taliban issued a statement calling for a boycott of the election process and warning they would step up attacks on foreign forces.
The statement warned that anybody involved in running the election would be considered a legitimate target.
Al Jazeera correspondent Jonah Hull, reporting from Kabul, said a fierce shootout erupted at about 0630 local time in the vicinity of military installations and foreign guest houses.
He said that coming in the run up to the presidential vote, the attack was clearly a message from the Taliban that even in the heart of Kabul - where security is supposed to be at its highest - nowhere is safe.
The guest house which was attacked is one of several privately-run operations used by the UN in the city and security-checked for the use of its personnel.
Wednesday's attack comes a day after roadside bombs killed eight more US troops, driving the US death toll to a record level for the third time in four months.
The Taliban said they were behind the attacks which took place in the southern province of Kandahar.
The escalating death toll adds to pressure on Barack Obama, the US president, as he nears a decision on a revised military strategy for the eight-year-long war in Afghanistan.
PHOTO CAPTION
Smoke rises from a U.N. guest house during a gunbattle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009.
Al-Jazeera
