Image copyright Reuters Image caption Afghan security forces have taken up positions around the hotel 
 
 At least four gunmen have launched an attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, Afghan officials say. 
 
 Special forces killed two of the attackers, an interior ministry spokesman said, and are trying to get to the others. 
 
 The gunmen stormed the hotel on Saturday evening, shooting at guests and detonating grenades. 
 
 At least five people have been injured, officials said. It is not clear how many have been killed. 
 
 The attack began at about 21:00 local time (16:30 GMT), with reports suggesting the gunmen shot at security guards as they made their way into the five-storey building. 
 
 They targeted staff and guests before special forces were called in. 
 
 Security forces then cleared the ground floor of the luxury hotel but the attackers are still on the floors above, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told the BBC. 
 
 Some reports said the hotel had been hosting an IT conference attended by provincial officials at the time. One witness told Reuters news agency that the attackers had taken hostages. 
 
 The attack comes just days after the US embassy in Kabul issued a warning about hotels in the city. 
 
 "We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul," the embassy wrote in a public security alert published Thursday, though it highlighted another hotel near the international airport as a possible target. 
 
 "These groups may also be targeting public gatherings/demonstrations, government facilities, transportation, markets, and places where foreigners are known to congregate." 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption File photo: The Intercontinental Hotel, photographed in January 2016 
 
 A guest at the hotel told AFP news agency that people were hiding in their rooms. 
 
 "I don't know if the attackers are inside the hotel but I can hear gunfire," the guest said. 
 
 "I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." 
 
 Another interior ministry spokesman told AFP an investigation had already begun into how the attackers had breached security, which was handed over to a private company two weeks ago. 
 
 "They probably used a back door in the kitchen to enter," he said. 
 
 The Intercontinental is a state-owned hotel which often hosts weddings, conferences and political gatherings. 
 
 It was attacked by the Taliban in 2011. Twenty-one people were killed including nine attackers. 
 
 Security has been tightened in Kabul since last May, when a huge truck bomb killed at least 150 people. 
 
 However, there have been several attacks in recent months. They include a bomb at a Shia cultural centre last month that killed more than 40 people. ||||| Security forces stand guard near the Intercontinental Hotel after a deadly attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. An Afghan official says that a group of gunmen have attacked the Intercontinental... (Associated Press) 
 
 Security forces stand guard near the Intercontinental Hotel after a deadly attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018. An Afghan official says that a group of gunmen have attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Kabul. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini) (Associated Press) 
 
 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on Afghanistan, where gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital, Kabul (all times local): 
 
 7 p.m. 
 
 An Afghan official says that at least 18 people, including 14 foreigners, have been killed when the Taliban attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. 
 
 Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Najib Danish said that 11 of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline. 
 
 He added that 10 others were wounded including six security offiers and four civilians. 
 
 KamAir also put out an announcement saying some of their flights were disrupted because of the attack. 
 
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 4:40 p.m. 
 
 Ukraine says one of its citizens was killed in the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan's capital. 
 
 Afghan officials say insurgents killed at least six people, including one foreigner, in an assault on the luxury hotel that began late Saturday and set off clashes with security forces that lasted more than 13 hours. They have not identified the foreigner, and the toll could rise as authorities survey the damage. 
 
 Vasyl Kyrylych, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, announced the death in a brief statement on Twitter, without providing further details. 
 
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 1:30 p.m. 
 
 An Afghan official says an assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul has ended after more than 12 hours with all the attackers killed by security forces. 
 
 The Taliban claimed the attack, which began late Saturday, saying five gunmen armed with suicide vests targeted foreigners and Afghan officials. 
 
 Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the last attacker was killed Sunday afternoon, more than 12 hours after the attack began. He says the attack killed six people, including a foreigner and a telecommunications official from the western Farah province who was attending a conference. 
 
 Six others, including three security forces, were wounded in the attack on the heavily guarded luxury hotel popular with foreigners and Afghan officials. 
 
 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgents initially planned to attack the hotel Thursday night but postponed the assault because there was a wedding underway and they wanted to avoid civilian casualties. 
 
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 12:45 p.m. 
 
 An Afghan official says a roadside bomb has killed at least 12 civilians in the western Herat province. 
 
 Abdul Ahad Walizada, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, says a 13th person was wounded in the explosion early Sunday, which struck a vehicle in the Gulran district. 
 
 No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Walizada blamed Taliban insurgents, who often plant roadside bombs to target Afghan security forces. 
 
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 12:15 p.m. 
 
 An Afghan official says insurgents have killed 18 members of a pro-government militia in northern Afghanistan, in an attack claimed by the Taliban. 
 
 Gen. Abdul Razeq Qaderi, the deputy police chief of Balkh province, says the insurgents burst into a home where several members of the Local Uprising Forces were gathered late Saturday. He says the attackers led them outside and shot them dead. One of those killed was a tribal elder who served as the local police commander. 
 
 The Local Uprising Forces operate under the Interior Ministry. 
 
 Gen. Mahruf Folad, the police chief of the western Farah province, meanwhile said a roadside bomb killed a deputy police chief and wounded four other police early Sunday. 
 
 The Taliban claimed both attacks. 
 
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 9 a.m. 
 
 An Afghan official says at least five civilians have been killed after gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and have been fighting security forces for 11 hours into Sunday morning. 
 
 Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish says six other civilians are reported to be wounded and more than 100 people, including 16 foreigners, have been rescued from the hotel. 
 
 The bodies of four attackers have been recovered as security forces continued to clear the landmark hotel. 
 
 Danish says security forces are going room-by-room to make sure all attackers have been accounted for. 
 
 No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which started around 9 p.m. Saturday.
– Guests were forced to flee as gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and opened fire Saturday night, the BBC reports. Najib Danish, spokesperson for Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, tells Reuters the approximately four attackers also included suicide bombers. Afghan Special Forces responded to the attack and killed at least two gunmen, Danish says. An official with Afghanistan's spy agency says the gunmen were "shooting at guests." "We are hiding in our rooms," one guest is quoted as saying. "I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as possible before they reach and kill us." There are reports the Intercontinental Hotel, one of two major luxury hotels in Kabul, was hosting an IT conference at the time of the attack. There has as yet been no word on possible casualties. The AP reports no group is claiming responsibility for the attack on the hotel so far, though the Taliban previously attacked the hotel in 2011. The attack comes just two days after a warning from the US embassy in Kabul that the city's hotels could be targeted. "We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul," the embassy said in statement Thursday.