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Taliban militants strike Afghan hotel, take hostages in hourslong siege - CNN

• NEW: At least 22 civilians are rescued, officials say
• Police are moving slowly to avoid hurting civilians, Kabul chief says
• At least one police officer has been killed, he says
• It's the latest in a string of high-profile strikes this week

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban militants attacked a hotel near Kabul early Friday, sparking an ongoing gun battle with Afghan and NATO troops that left six dead, authorities said.
Three security guards, a police officer and two militants are among the fatalities, according to Sediq Seddiqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
The siege is ongoing and some civilians are being held hostage at the hotel, the spokesman said.
So far, at least 22 civilians have been rescued, but there is an unknown number of casualties in the hotel, officials said.
Camouflaged soldiers hovered nearby in military vehicles as helicopters flew overhead amid heavy gunfire.
The standoff started before midnight Thursday.
Armed attackers stormed the Spozhmai hotel and restaurant at Lake Qargha, Kabul Police Chief Mohammed Ayoub Salangi said.
The hotel was hosting an outdoor dinner that drew a large number of Afghans, including women and children.
Afghan forces moved against the attackers slowly overnight to avoid civilian casualties, the police chief said.
"Definitely civilians are stuck in the hotel's garden, but we can't say if they are hostages or just caught in the ongoing situation," Salangi said. "We did not take any action in the dark because of the risk to civilians, but now we have begun our attack and killed one attacker, and injured another."
There was no immediate indication of coalition forces casualties, said Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
The attack comes after strikes aimed at allied troops and Afghan security forces, including Wednesday bombings in two eastern provinces that killed at least 29 people, including three American soldiers.
It also comes nearly a year after an insurgent attack on Kabul's Hotel Inter-Continental left nine attackers and 12 others dead.
In an e-mail, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the targets were Westerners.
Attackers are armed with suicide vests, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, he said.
"Every night people come here for different types of debauchery, but on Thursday night, the number increases, including foreigners who come here and they hold anti-Islamic ceremonies," Mujahid said. "Tonight, according to our information, a number of ISAF and embassy diplomats from foreign countries have been invited by some senior Kabul administration officials and are now under attack."
He said the Taliban were fighting government forces outside the hotel and had killed tens of government officials and foreigners, but the insurgents regularly inflate casualty figures.
The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist militia, once ruled most of the country.
CNN's Masoud Popalzai contributed to this report.