Former Ariana Hotel (Kabul)

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A building used by the CIA in Kabul came under attack Sunday, U.S. and Afghan officials said, the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital.

Afghan authorities said gunfire was heard in the evening near the Ariana Hotel, a building that former U.S. intelligence officials said was the CIA station in Kabul. The CIA occupied the heavily secured building just blocks from the Afghan presidential palace in late 2001 after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

A U.S. official confirmed there was an attack on a facility used by American officials in Kabul.

"The situation is fluid, and the investigation is ongoing," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Officials at the U.S.-led coalition headquarters nearby said they heard the gunfire, but did not have details about the incident.

All the officials in Afghanistan spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack came two weeks after militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles at the U.S. Embassy, NATO headquarters and other buildings, killing seven Afghans. No embassy or NATO staff members were hurt in the 22-hour assault, but accusations over who was responsible have plunged U.S. relations with Pakistan to new lows.

The top U.S. military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, last week accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of supporting insurgents in planning and executing the Sept. 13 attack as well as a truck bomb days earlier that wounded 77 American troops.

The insurgents, from the Haqqani network, are affiliated with the Taliban and al-Qaida. The group primarily operates in eastern Afghanistan and is often blamed for attacks in Kabul.

Senior Pakistani officials have lashed out against the allegations of support for the Haqqani network, accusing the U.S. of trying to make Pakistan a scapegoat for its troubled war in Afghanistan.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/25/ariana-hotel-attacked...