5 people including foreigners killed in Kabul guesthouse siege

Militants killed five people including foreigners during a seven-hour siege on a Kabul guesthouse late Wednesday, police said, adding that all the attackers had died while there were conflicting account of the number.

"Five people were killed and five were wounded -- including foreigners and Afghans -- in the attack on Park Palace guesthouse," police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters. "Fifty-four people were rescued by security forces."

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the siege on the Park Palace guesthouse, but it comes as the Taliban -- who have previously attacked such properties frequented by foreigners -- press their annual spring offensive.

The US embassy earlier confirmed that one American was among the dead, and the Indian ambassador tweeted that there were "a few Indian casualties" without specifying if they were injured or had been killed.