Taliban attack Karzai palace, CIA base

Taliban gunmen and bombers using fake Nato identification attacked an entrance to the Afghan presidential palace in the heart of Kabul yesterday, just a week after insurgent leaders opened an office in Qatar for peace talks.
A nearby building known to house a CIA base also came under attack as explosions and gunfire erupted for more than an hour in an area close to heavily secured Western embassies and ministry buildings.
Three Afghan security guards and all four assailants were killed, officials said.
The three guards were killed close to the Ariana hotel building, used as a CIA base since about 2002, but officials said neither the palace nor the CIA property were breached.
Karzai, who lives in the palace, was due to hold a press event in Kabul on Tuesday morning. Officials confirmed that he was in the building at the time of the attack but not in danger.
The attack came during a visit to Kabul by US envoy James Dobbins after a diplomatic spat over the Taliban's new office in Qatar, whose creation is meant to be a first step towards a peace deal to end 12 years of fighting in Afghanistan.
The Qatar office used the formal name of "Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan" from the rebels' 1996-2001 government, and flew the white Taliban flag, displaying the trappings of power in a way that infuriated Karzai.
The president broke off Afghan-US talks on an agreement that would allow Washington to maintain soldiers in Afghanistan after 2014.
He has refused to send representatives to Qatar, but pressure is growing for a ceasefire and eventually a peace settlement ahead of the Nato withdrawal and a presidential election due in April.