Fourteen people including at least six foreigners were killed in a Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse that trapped dozens attending a concert and triggered an hours-long standoff with Afghan forces, officials said Thursday.

Fourteen people including at least six foreigners were killed in a Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse that trapped dozens attending a concert and triggered an hours-long standoff with Afghan forces, officials said Thursday.

Four Indians, an American and an Italian were among those killed in the overnight siege on the Park Palace, which was about to host a performance by a well-known Afghan singer.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the seven-hour assault, which triggered explosions and bursts of gunfire. It came as Afghan forces face their first fighting season against the insurgents without the US-led foreign combat troops.

"An attack against civilians gathered for a cultural event in the Park Palace hotel in Kabul killed 14 civilians and injured several others," the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement.

A senior Afghan police official requesting anonymity confirmed the new toll.

Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi earlier said five people including foreigners and Afghans were killed in the attack, but deaths confirmed by overseas governments saw the toll of foreigners rise above that figure.

"Fifty-four people were rescued by security forces," Rahimi added after a large number of armed personnel swooped on the guesthouse, located in an up-market district and popular with international aid agency workers.

An Indian foreign ministry official said that "unfortunately four Indians have died in the attack as per the information we have so far".