The BBC's Bilal Sarwary: "We have heard explosions from 5km away"
Nato helicopters have killed militants on the roof of a Kabul hotel after an attack by suicide bombers and gunmen left at least seven people dead.
Two helicopters shot dead three attackers at the Intercontinental Hotel during an overnight stand-off lasting nearly five hours.
The hotel is popular with Westerners, although all guests are reported safe.
Afghan security officials said at least six militants stormed the hotel and all were killed.
A spokesman for the Taliban said they carried out the attack.
Smoke and flames could be seen coming from the hotel - which is popular with Westerners - as the sun rose over Kabul.
Interior ministry spokesman Siddiq Siddiqi told AFP that all those killed were Afghans, and that eight other people had been wounded. He said the figures did not include the insurgents.
At the scene
One guest who had been caught up in the attack told the BBC he had just experienced the most difficult hours of his life.
Another guest described a scene of chaos and panic, everyone running in fear. There had been a wedding party at the hotel, as well as a meeting of some provincial governors.
The fighting took place in darkness as electricity was cut to the hotel and surrounding area. The interior minister said this had been done intentionally, as Afghan security forces were using night-vision equipment.
The full extent of the damage will not become clear until daybreak.
The attack began while many guests were in the dining room of the hotel late on Tuesday.
Afghan officials told the BBC that one suicide bomber blew himself up at the front of the hotel and another on the second floor.
Witnesses said panic broke out as guests fled for safety. Afghan troops and police sealed off the hotel and cut the power, using flares to light the area.
One guest said he jumped from of a first-floor window to escape the gunmen.
"I was running with my family," the man, named as Jawid, told AP news agency.
"There was shooting. The restaurant was full with guests."
Intense gunfire was heard coming from the hotel and some explosions could be heard up to 5km away, said the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul.
Afghan police said one militant was shot dead as security forces fought their way through the hotel. Three attackers managed to reach the roof and Afghan officials then asked the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) for assistance, security sources told the BBC.
Isaf spokesman Major Tim James said those killed on the roof appeared to have been wearing suicide vests.
An Afghan official said the attackers had hand-grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s.
Officials said a meeting of provincial governors taking place at the hotel might have been the target of the attack.
Isaf's Major Tim James: "The Afghan national security forces have responded incredibly well"
The attack also came the night before the start of a conference about the transition of responsibility for security from Isaf to Afghan security forces.
Correspondents say the Intercontinental is one of Kabul's most heavily guarded hotels.
The US condemned the attack, saying it demonstrated "the terrorists' complete disregard for human life".
Kabul has been relatively stable in recent months, although violence has increased across the country since the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan on 2 May, and the start of the Taliban's "spring offensive".
In January 2008, militants stormed the capital's most popular luxury hotel, the Serena, and killed eight people, including an American, a Norwegian and a Philippine woman.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-south-asia-13953883
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