Kabul, Oct 28 (IANS) At least six people, including UN personnel, were killed Wednesday morning when heavily armed Taliban fighters stormed a UN guesthouse in the Afghan capital.

Fierce gunbattles broke out between suspected suicide bombers and the police at the UN guesthouse in Shar-e-Naw area of Kabul, Xinhua reported.

A little later, a rocket fired from an unknown location slammed next to five-star hotel Kabul Serena.

BBC reported that at least three UN employees have been killed in an attack in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul.

An Afghan official later told the BBC that six foreigners and three gunmen were killed in the attack for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

Witnesses said the gunfight started around 5 a.m. and the street where the house was located was cordoned off.

Plumes of smoke rose above buildings in the Afghan capital as the gunfight raged between the suspected suicide bombers and the security personnel.

The fighting comes ahead of a presidential runoff election Nov 7.

Earlier this month, a Taliban suicide bomber exploded near the Indian embassy in Kabul, killing 12 people and injuring nearly 90. The Oct 8 explosion was the second such attack since 2008.

On July 7 last year, over 50 people, including two Indian diplomats and two Indian security personnel, were killed in a similar suicide attack at the embassy. That attack wounded 147 people.