Taliban Attacks Karzai Palace

Suicide attackers set up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace early this morning after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. All the attackers were killed and one palace security guard was wounded, officials say. The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the US Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces. It's not clear whether President Hamid Karzai was in the building at the time.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a minibus hit a bomb buried in a road in Kandahar, killing 11 members of a family. (More Taliban stories.)