Afghanistan: Four foreigners among nine gunned down in Taliban attack on Kabul hotel --- Four men with pistols stuffed in their socks attacked a luxury hotel in Kabul on Thursday, opening fire in a restaurant and killing nine people, including four foreigners, officials said. -- The attack came just hours after militants killed 11 people in an audacious assault on a police station in eastern Afghanistan. -- Afghan authorities initially said only two security guards had been wounded in the brazen assault on the Serena hotel in Kabul, which is home to UN staff and diplomats. -- But deputy interior minister General Mohammad Ayub Salangi later told Associated Press that the Afghan fatalities included two men, two women and one child while the foreigners included two women and two men. -- Salangi did not provide the nationalities of the foreigners who were believed to be celebrating the Persian new year with other guests. The attackers were all killed by security guards. -- Zabihullah Mujihid, a Taliban spokesman, who claimed responsibility for the attack, said the fighters evaded security by using a back entrance. He said they were armed with light and heavy weapons and suicide vests, although only gunfire was heard during the attack. -- “Tonight at 9.15 some mujahideen entered from an unofficial door,” he told the Guardian by phone. “Foreigners and officials from Kabul administration, important people were there tonight.” -- As fears for security rise in Afghanistan ahead of a presidential election set for next month, its rooms were fully booked by election monitors, United Nations staff and diplomats whose embassies felt exposed. -- It was also a favourite meeting place for Afghan leaders. Visitors to the pricey buffet restaurant and high-end gym, complete with a heated outdoor swimming pool that operates through the winter, would often bump into ministers, MPs and other powerful officials. -- The assailants were killed in both attacks on Thursday, but made their point: Afghan forces face a huge challenge in securing upcoming elections in what will be a major test of their abilities as foreign troops wind down their combat mission at the end of this year.