CNN
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Five Taliban militants attacked a hotel near Kabul on Friday and seized dozens of hostages, sparking a fierce gunbattle with Afghan and NATO troops that ended after several hours.
At least three security guards, a police officer and four civilians were killed in the standoff, Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi said in a statement. All five militants were also killed, he said.
Authorities stormed the hotel as soon as the siege ended to find out whether there were any civilians holed up.
By the end of the siege, police had rescued about 50 civilians held hostage in the hotel, according Salangi.
Terrified civilians fled when the gunmen struck the Spozhmai hotel around midnight Thursday local time, with some jumping into a nearby lake to avoid the bloodshed. The hotel was hosting an outdoor dinner that drew a large number of guests when the attack occurred.
Afghan forces had moved slowly overnight to avoid civilian casualties.
"We did not take any action in the dark because of the risk to civilians," Salangi said.
There was no immediate indication of coalition forces casualties, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.
The attack follows recent strikes aimed at coalition troops and Afghan security forces. Bombings in two eastern provinces Wednesday killed at least 29 people, including three American soldiers.
It also comes nearly a year after an insurgent attack on Kabul's Hotel Inter-Continental killed nine attackers and 12 others.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the hotel attack targeted Westerners.
Attackers are armed with suicide vests, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, he said in an e-mail while the siege was under way.
"Every night people come here for different types of debauchery, but on Thursday night, the number increases, including foreigners who come here and they hold anti-Islamic ceremonies," Mujahid said. "Tonight, according to our information, a number of ISAF and embassy diplomats from foreign countries have been invited by some senior Kabul administration officials and are now under attack."
He said the Taliban fought government forces outside the hotel and had killed tens of government officials and foreigners, but the insurgents regularly inflate casualty figures.
The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist militia, once ruled most of the country.
CNN's Masoud Popalzai contributed to this report.