(CNN) -- Nine civilians died in an attack on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, a government official said Friday. 
 
 The dead were a mix of Afghans and foreigners, children and adults, according to Gen Mohammad Ayoub Salangi the deputy interior minister. Six people were also injured. 
 
 The incident began when four teenagers entered the Serena Hotel in central Kabul on Thursday and started shooting randomly, police said. 
 
 Afghan security forces killed the four gunmen, who police said were all under 18 and were "government opponents." 
 
 Police said they believe the gunmen entered the hotel by smuggling small pistols in their shoes, then hid in the bathroom for several hours before launching their attack. 
 
 The hotel also was the site of a shooting, in January 2008, that killed seven people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. 
 
 This is latest attack to claim the lives of foreigners in the Afghan capital. Earlier this month, gunmen shot and killed a Swedish journalist in broad daylight. In January, a bomb and gun attack by the Taliban on a restaurant in Kabul killed 21 people, most of them foreigners. 
 
 Earlier, in eastern Afghanistan, Taliban militants stormed a police station in Jalalabad, and a deadly gunbattle ensued, the country's Interior Ministry said. 
 
 At least 11 people were killed and 22 were injured at the station, and at least six attackers were killed, according to a doctor at the hospital. 
 
 This came as the militant group threatened to carry out attacks before next month's presidential election. 
 
 Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed the action to CNN. He said fighters will "continue to attack the pro-U.S. Afghan establishment." 
 
 Canada pulls out of Kabul as NATO winds down Afghan operations 
 
 Suicide blast rips through bazaar in northern Afghanistan 
 
 Journalists Zahir Shah Sherazi in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Qadir Sediqui in Kabul contributed to this report. 

 A view of the Serena Hotel, a day after it was attacked by gunmen, in Kabul March 21, 2014. 
 
 An Afghan security official displays the bullets left behind from insurgents to the media after they were killed last night in a luxury hotel in Kabul March 21, 2014. 
 
 Afghan security officials display the weapons and bullets of Taliban insurgents that were killed last night in a luxury hotel in Kabul March 21, 2014. 
 
 A general view of the Serena Hotel in Kabul March 21, 2014, a day after it was attacked by gunmen. 
 
 KABUL A Taliban assault on the restaurant of a luxury hotel, considered one of the safest places in Kabul and frequented by foreigners and Afghan officials, has swelled a tide of violence sweeping Afghanistan two weeks before a presidential election. 
 
 Taliban gunmen smuggled tiny pistols past the Serena hotel's heavy security cordon and waited for the restaurant to fill up for an Afghan New Year dinner before emerging to shoot diners point-blank. Three children between two and five were found with bullets in their heads. Four of the nine dead were foreigners. 
 
 Hours later, a bomb attack in the southerly Kandahar province wounded the deputy governor and left his chief of staff in critical condition. 
 
 The Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to use "full force" to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates in what it calls a Western-backed sham. 
 
 This week alone, seven or eight suicide bombers killed at least 11 people in the eastern city of Jalalabad, while 18 were killed by a bomb in a marketplace in northern Afghanistan. 
 
 The April 5 vote is intended to mark the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's history. It will be a pointer to prospects for stability as the NATO-led force that has been reinforcing security since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001 prepares to withdraw most of its troops this year. 
 
 With President Hamid Karzai constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, the front-runners include former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and two ex-foreign ministers, Zalmay Rassoul and Abdullah Abdullah. 
 
 HIDDEN GUNS 
 
 The hotel attack started around 6 p.m. on Thursday when four attackers managed to get past the dozens of armed guards patrolling the perimeter as well as metal detectors and body searches, possibly concealing their guns in their socks. 
 
 Three hours later, they emerged to begin their rampage, killing four foreigners. The Interior Ministry gave conflicting accounts of their nationalities, but by late Friday said they included citizens of Canada and Paraguay. The U.S. embassy said a dual U.S.-Bangladeshi citizen was also killed. 
 
 The dead Afghans included popular journalist Sardar Ahmad of Agence France-Presse, his wife and two daughters. 
 
 Afghan special forces fought the gunmen for hours as terrified guests barricaded themselves in darkened rooms, listening to gunfire and the sound of running. Around 100 guests fled into a basement safe room, where they had to struggle with choking smoke from a fire in the kitchen above. 
 
 Although six people were killed in an attack on the hotel in 2008, its heavy security made it one of the few places in Kabul where foreign officials were still permitted to dine, after 21 people including three U.N. staff and a senior IMF official were killed in a Lebanese restaurant in January. 
 
 As shots rang out and diners dived under tables, one witness said Sardar had motioned for a foreign man, desperately seeking a hiding place, to take cover under a table with him and his children. 
 
 As two gunmen walked towards the group, Sardar spoke to them in a local language and the gunmen turned away and started shooting in a different direction until they ran out of bullets. 
 
 As they reloaded, the foreigner ran into the kitchen, where staff were guiding customers toward the safe room. But Sardar, his wife and two daughters were killed. Their young son was shot in the head, chest and leg, and was in critical condition. 
 
 All the Taliban gunmen were eventually shot dead, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. The bodies were dragged through the hotel lobby, leaving long smears of blood, a witness said. 
 
 Friday's attack in Kandahar killed at least one person and wounded nine, leaving the governor's chief of staff fighting for his life in a military hospital, officials said. 
 
 "The doctor says that he is alive, he's in a coma, but will be okay," said Tawab Ghorzang, a spokesman for Afghanistan's governance agency. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld and Mirwais Harooni; Editing by Maria Golovnina, Miral Fahmy and Mark Trevelyan) 

 KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Four men with pistols stuffed in their socks attacked a luxury hotel in Kabul, opening fire in a restaurant and killing nine people, including four foreigners, officials said Friday. 
 
 Afghan police force stands guard at the site of a gun battle at the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Four gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers arrive at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan police forces arrive at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Afghan policeman walks at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital... (Associated Press) 
 
 EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT- An Afghan Army solider and policeman drag the lifeless body of a suicide bomber from the scene after the Taliban staged a multi-pronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan Army soldiers and police search through a police station after the Taliban staged a multi-pronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Taliban... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Afghan policeman walks at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Four gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan Army and police search through a police station after the Taliban staged a multi-pronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Taliban insurgents... (Associated Press) 
 
 Smoke billows from a building after an attack on a police station in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Taliban insurgents staged a multi-pronged... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan army and police surround the area after a multi-pronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Taliban insurgents... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Afghan Army soldier inspects bullet proof vests found after Taliban insurgents staged a multi-pronged attack on a police station in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Taliban... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan police forces arrive at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan police forces arrive at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Afghan policeman walks at the site of a gun battle in Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2014. Gunmen opened fire in a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in the Afghan capital... (Associated Press) 
 
 Afghan authorities initially said only two security guards had been wounded in the brazen assault on the Serena hotel in Kabul. Deputy Interior Minister Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi later told The Associated Press that the Afghan fatalities included two men, two women and one child while the foreigners included two women and two men. They were from Canada, New Zealand, India and Pakistan, officials announced Friday at a press conference. 
 
 The Afghan capital has been hit by several attacks, but authorities appeared stunned that the militants had managed to get through the tight security at the Serena hotel — considered one of the safest places to stay in Kabul. 
 
 The attack in Kabul came just hours after the Taliban killed 11 people in an audacious assault on a police station in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. 
 
 The assailants were killed in both standoffs, but made their point: Afghan forces face a huge challenge in securing upcoming elections next month in what will be a major test of their abilities as foreign troops wind down their combat mission at the end of this year. 
 
 The attacks show the Taliban are following through on their threat to use violence to disrupt the April 5 vote, which will be the first democratic transfer of power since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Islamic militant movement. President Hamid Karzai is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term. 
 
 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the assault on the Serena hotel and the earlier attack in Jalalabad, an economic hub near the border with Pakistan. 
 
 "Our people, if they decide to attack any place, they can do it," he said. 
 
 In Jalalabad, the violence began before dawn on Thursday when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car outside the police station, located near the palatial residence of Nangarhar provincial Gov. Attaullah Ludin. 
 
 Six gunmen rushed into the station as two more bombs exploded nearby — one hidden in a motorized rickshaw and another in a vegetable cart. 
 
 That prompted a fierce battle that lasted more than four hours, with Afghan police and soldiers chasing gunmen down the street amid gunfire and smoke billowing into the blue sky. Security forces killed seven attackers, Salangi said Thursday. 
 
 Police said the attack killed 10 officers, including a city district police chief, and a university student caught in the crossfire. Fifteen policemen were also wounded. 
 
 Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said the attackers wore suicide vests and killed nearly 30 police officers. The Islamic militant group frequently exaggerates casualty figures. 
 
 The initial suicide bombing badly damaged the nearby state-run Afghan radio and television building, shattering its windows. 
 
 The Taliban have carried out numerous attacks in Jalalabad, Kabul and elsewhere in the east. But the choice of a police station as a target reflected an effort to show they can still penetrate heavily secured areas despite numerous U.S. and Afghan offensives against them in recent years. 
 
 Hours later in Kabul, four young men entered the Serena hotel at about 6 p.m., telling guards they were going to dinner, officials said. To enter the hotel, guests must pass through an exterior gate and undergo a metal detector search and pat down. 
 
 Inside, they drew the pistols hidden in their socks and opened fire, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said. Bursts of gunfire could be heard from outside the hotel as Afghan troops cordoned off the area. 
 
 The attackers appeared to be about 18 years old and all were killed, Sediqqi said, adding that gunfire wounded two hotel security guards. 
 
 Armored vehicles carrying foreigners were seen leaving the hotel Friday morning, but otherwise the area appeared calm. 
 
 In a separate statement, Mujahid said the gunmen targeted foreigners and dignitaries gathered at the hotel for a celebration marking the Persian New Year, Nowruz. He said Thursday's attacks in Kabul and Jalalabad show the vulnerability of government forces against determined militants. 
 
 Afghanistan's upcoming elections include provincial votes, but the most closely watched is the presidential race. Karzai's successor will guide the country for the next five years as most U.S. and allied forces leave the country by the end of 2014. 

 KABUL, Afghanistan -- Nine people were slain execution-style while they dined at Kabul's most upscale hotel on Thursday, government officials and sources told NBC News. 
 
 The victims included four women and two children. Four foreigners, including two Canadians, were among those killed at the Serena Hotel. 
 
 A three-hour battle involving Afghan special forces ended with the gunmen dead, officials said. 
 
 The bloodbath began in the hotel’s restaurant at 9 p.m. local time (12:30 p.m. ET) as guests celebrated Persian New Year. 
 
 "Don't kill us, we're Afghan" 
 
 The shooters, who are believed to have smuggled pistols into the heavily guarded hotel by hiding them in their socks, took a table at the restaurant. They ordered apple juice before launching the attack, a waiter in the Silk Route Restaurant said. 
 
 “Don’t kill us, we’re Afghan,” pleaded one man at a nearby table, according to a witness. The gunmen proceeded to kill the man and two of the children at his table, the witness said. 
 
 The gunmen shot most of the victims in the head execution-style, according to witnesses and government officials. 
 
 WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP - Getty Images Agence France-Presse reporter Sardar Ahmad poses for a photo at the news agency's office in Kabul on Thursday, hours before he, his wife and two of his three children were gunned down. 
 
 Among the dead is a senior AFP reporter in Kabul, Sardar Ahmad. Ahmad, 40, was killed with his wife and two of his three children, the news service said in a statement. APF said one of their staff photographers identified the four bodies at a city hospital, adding the family’s youngest son was “undergoing emergency treatment after being badly wounded in the attack." 
 
 President Hamid Karzai issued a condolence message after news of the journalist's death emerged. 
 
 "The killing of Ahmad, his wife and two children is the biggest crime, and a painful tragedy," he said. 
 
 The Ministry of the Interior said the four slain foreigners killed were from Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan and India, but the New Zealand, Pakistani and Indian foreign ministries denied any of their citizens were among the dead. Canada confirmed that two Canadians were killed, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 No Americans were injured or killed, according to the U.S. Embassy. 
 
 The Serena Hotel is popular with Afghan politicians, visiting dignitaries, contractors and journalists. It is generally considered one of the safest places to eat and stay in Kabul. 
 
 An NBC News source who was in the restaurant minutes after the attack said he saw six of the victims’ bodies on the ground with bullet holes in their head and faces. Blood was splattered on cream-colored and wood-paneled walls, the source added. 
 
 Terrified guests and staff members fled the restaurant to hide in their rooms or safe rooms, and hotel workers wandered into the restaurant even as gun smoke filled the air. 
 
 "It was hard to breathe. People started putting wet napkins on their faces," one witness hiding in a smoke-filled safe room packed with guests and Afghan members of parliament told Reuters. 
 
 The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting a delegation of high-ranking foreign officials and Afghans. 
 
 But the country's interior ministry suggested the hotel shared some of the blame for the attack. 
 
 "The Serena Hotel’s security team is responsible for this incident. We have previously offered our security and services to the hotel management," spokesman Sidiq Siddiqi said. “They rejected our offer, and assured us they have all of the security personnel and expertise needed to protect their five-star hotel.” 
 
 A spokesman for ISAF, the NATO-led security mission in the country, said the Afghans had not requested any help in responding to the situation. 
 
 Anja Niedringhaus / AP Afghanistan's intelligence service displays some of the attackers' weapons and belongings during a press conference in Kabul on Friday. 
 
 ISAF's commander Gen. Joseph F. Dunford condemned the attack. 
 
 "I express my deepest sympathies to the victims and families of those wounded and killed in last night's attack on the Serena Hotel," he said in a statement on Friday. "This attack shows a complete disregard for human life." 
 
 It was the latest in a string of attacks by the Taliban aimed at disrupting presidential elections scheduled for April 5. 
 
 Jamieson Lesko and F. Brinley Bruton reported from London. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 
 NBC News Identity cards of two of the alleged attackers were shown to members of the press by the Afghan Interior Ministry. 
 
 First published March 21 2014, 2:48 AM
– One of the few places in Kabul where foreign officials are still permitted to dine was the target of a ferocious Taliban attack yesterday that left nine people dead, including foreigners from Canada, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan. NBC News reports they were largely killed execution-style. Officials say four gunmen, all under 18, hid in a bathroom at the heavily fortified Serena Hotel for hours, CNN reports; according to a waiter, they then sat at a table, ordered apple juice, and then attacked. The AP notes authorities appeared stunned that the militants had managed to get through the tight security at the Serena hotel—considered one of the safest places to stay in Kabul. All four attackers were killed during an hours-long battle with Afghan security forces. Some 18 United Nations staff were in the hotel during the attack, but the UN says they have all been accounted for, reports Reuters. Officials are probing how the attackers made it past hotel security, which included metal detectors and dozens of armed guards; their pistols were reportedly hidden in their socks. In a separate attack yesterday, at least 10 police officers were killed in the eastern city of Jalalabad in an attack that began with a suicide bombing outside the city's police station, the AP reports.