Taliban kill nine in attack on Kabul hotel

Taliban gunmen killed nine people, including four foreigners, in an attack on a luxury hotel used by U.N. staff and prominent Afghan politicians in Kabul on Thursday night, before being shot dead by security forces, witnesses and police said on Friday. The assault on the heavily fortified Serena Hotel, which lasted some three hours, was the latest in a string of attacks by the insurgents seeking to spoil a presidential election on April 5, which would mark the first time in Afghanistan's history that one elected government hands power to another.
Background:
Taliban kill nine including foreigners in Kabul hotel attack [Reuters]
Official: 9 civilians die in attack on Kabul luxury hotel [CNN]