Suicide bombers target Kabul hotel

Suicide bombers this morning struck a hotel in Kabul which is frequented by foreigners.

Officials were unable to confirm the number of casualties following the attack on the Heetal Hotel in the city's Wazir Akbar Khan district.

One eyewitness reported seeing a black four-wheeled drive vehicle at the hotel.

Hamayun Azizi, a 22-year-old English student at Kabul University, said the vehicle "drove very slowly to the checkpoint" of the hotel before blowing up.

Several nearby homes were damaged and windows were shattered in other buildings.

The defence ministry later confirmed that at least one person had been killed and 16 wounded.

The explosion was heard a few miles away by about 200 people gathered at the Foreign Ministry for a three-day conference on corruption in the Afghan government.

After a delay, the event began with a speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.