The Serena hotel remains sealed off by the special forces and police

The gunmen - said to be teenagers - entered the five-star Serena Hotel claiming they were going for a meal. They hid their pistols in their socks. At least eight gunshots were heard in the hotel popular with foreigners. Two hotel staff were injured, reports say. The Taliban said it was behind the attack. The gunmen arrived at the hotel at about 18:00 local time (13:30 GMT) claiming to be diners at a special buffet put on to mark Nowruz, the spring equinox and the start of a new year. They started shooting three hours later after hiding in a toilet. "The information we have received from the guards of the hotel show that the assailants were under 18 years old and managed to enter the hotel under the pretext of having dinner and they had hidden pistols under their socks," Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi was quoted as saying by Tolo TV. The building was immediately surrounded by members of the elite Afghan Crisis Response Unit, who shot dead the attackers. The Serena Hotel lies less than 1km (0.6 miles) from the presidential palace and key government ministries. It currently houses UN staff who will be monitoring April's presidential elections. The hotel has been one of the most frequent targets of the Taliban, and it has been successfully attacked several times before, the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul reports.