KABUL (PAN): A rocket was fired into a high-security luxury hotel -- a favourite haunt for foreign dignitaries -- in the heart of Kabul Saturday evening, injuring two security guards and damaging a wall.

The attack on Serena Hotel happened at 6pm, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Pajhwok Afghan News. The projectile hit the wall opposite the Rabia Balkhi Hospital, he added.

Zmaray Bashari said it was not immediately clear as to who fired the rocket and from which direction. The assault, highlighting increasing insecurity in Kabul, was confirmed by capital police.

The press office at the Kabul Police Headquarters said a team had been sent to the scene to investigate the incident. A police official at the scene said the injured were security guards.

Last month, two rockets were fired into the gardens of the same hotel, but there were no casualties. The October 28 strike coincided with a deadly Taliban attack on a UN guesthouse in the upscale Shahr-i-Naw neighbourhood.

On January 14, 2008, Taliban insurgents stormed into the hotel overlooking the famous Zarnegar Park, killing at least six people. The assailants hunted down Westerners who cowered in a gym.

The gunmen lobbed grenades and fired AK-47 assault rifles, with one blowing himself up. An American, a journalist from Norway and some security guards were among the dead.

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