A huge explosion has been reported near a guest house in Kabul housing foreign contractors, including Americans.

Police say the explosion was felt throughout Kabul and knocked out power across much of the city.   

Kabul’s deputy police chief Gul Agha Rohani tells VOA’s Afghan Service the blast took place inside the Northgate Hotel complex, just east of the Kabul airport early Monday. He said Afghan and U.S. forces are wafting until daylight to carry out a search and rescue operation.

Rohani had no information on casualties but said no one in the hotel asked for ambulances.

It is unclear what cased the blast.

The Taliban claims it set off a truck bomb inside the complex and caused a large number of casualties.

An unidentified person who answered a telephone at the hotel said all guests are accounted for.

The Taliban frequently exaggerates claims.

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Source: VOA News: Economy and Finance