The palace is protected by rings of security in an area of Kabul where roads are permanently closed to general traffic. Police officers described how the attackers tried to pass through a checkpoint to enter the sprawling palace grounds. They wore military uniforms and arrived in two four-wheel drive vehicles disguised as Nato vehicles, with fake badges and fitted with radio antennae. "The first vehicle was checked and let in, and as the second car tried to get in the guards became suspicious and tried to prevent it," Mohammad Daud Amin, the Kabul deputy police chief, told AFP Three or four gunmen then leapt from the cars opening fire. A series of explosions followed. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman , claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a text message sent to news organisations that the militants had "brought death to the enemy" with a suicide attack. Mohammad Ashraf, a resident of Shah Darak, a neighborhood beside the palace, was eating his breakfast when he heard an explosion. "This is the capital, and they can reach to the palace now," he said. What did the foreigners and Afghan government do in last 12 years? The fight has not been stopped in the country but has increased more and more every year. The attack came during a visit by Washington's chief Afghan envoy as he tries to re-start stalled peace talks. James Dobbins is tasked with trying to persuade President Karzai to resume talks with the US and allow negotiators to travel to Qatar for talks with the Taliban. The Afghan president is furious that the insurgent movement was allowed to portray itself as a government-in-waiting in Doha by flying its flag and describing itself as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." This year the Taliban have launched a series of attacks against high-profile targets in Kabul as they try to grab headlines and demonstrate that local forces are unable to protect the capital. Two weeks ago the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb outside the Supreme Court that killed at least 15 civilians. However, many observers say local police and army have gained the upper hand, preventing the Taliban inflicting greater numbers of civilian casualties. Elsewhere, a roadside bomb killed eight women and one child in the southern province of Kandahar. Police said they were travelling to a wedding.