KABUL: A group of Afghan Taliban insurgents forced their way into a guesthouse used by foreigners in an upscale residential part of the capital Kabul on Friday, police said.

A gunbattle erupted and military convoys were dispatched to secure the area.

The Afghan capital is on high alert and the atmosphere is nervous ahead of next week's presidential election which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt.

“A suicide bomber detonated his car loaded with explosives in front of a guesthouse used by foreign and Afghan citizens and now a number of suicide bombers are apparently inside,” said Hashmat Stanikzai, a spokesman for Kabul's police chief.

“A gunfight is under way. There are no reports of possible casualties.”

The nationalities and number of foreigners inside the building were not immediately clear.

Reuters television footage showed Afghan forces sealing off the street in the south of the capital and military convoys rushing to secure the area.

AP adds: Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said insurgents attacked a ''guest house of foreigners and a church of foreigners.''

His claim could not be immediately confirmed.