Nine people, including two children, were killed execution style in the restaurant of Kabul’s luxury Serena Hotel by four teenage Taliban gunmen, officials said Friday.

Among the dead in Thursday night’s attack were an Afghan journalist for the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), his wife and two of his three children. Their third child, a toddler, was shot and was in critical condition.

The gunmen entered the heavily fortified hotel as guests while apparently smuggling in pistols in their socks and the soles of their shoes, officials said.

All four assailants were gunned down by security forces.

Officials said the assailants had hidden in the toilet, where two of them were killed.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted alcoholic Afghan officials celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year. However, Serena follows the Islamic laws of the country and does not serve alcoholic beverages.

The restaurant was packed with Afghans celebrating on the eve of Nowruz as well as foreigners who frequent the hotel.

The hotel has multiple layers of security with dozens of guards and checkpoints. It is considered one of the safest places to stay in Kabul.

The hotel was a favourite meeting place for foreign and Afghan officials, politicians and businessmen. All the rooms were fully booked by election monitors, UN staff, diplomats and aid officials.

The hotel has been attacked several times, including a suicide bombing in 2008 that killed six people.

Sediq Sediqi, Interior Ministry spokesman, said five Afghans and four foreigners were killed by the gunmen in Thursday’s attack and at least four people were injured.

AFP called the death of its journalist, Sardar Ahmad, 40, who had worked for 11 years for the agency in Kabul, “an unspeakable tragedy.” More than 100 journalists and officials gathered Friday afternoon at the Daud Khan military hospital, where the bodies were taken. Many were crying.

“I cannot believe the Taliban could shoot children as small as 1 1/2,” journalist Habib Khan said.

“Nilofar, the eldest daughter, was 5,” a source close to the Ahmad family said. “She had just started her school. Omar was 3. Both were shot dead.

“One-and-half-year-old son Abuzar was shot in the head and remains in critical condition.” The assault came weeks before the April 5 presidential election.

One of the civilians killed was a former Paraguayan diplomat who was part of an election observation team, local media reported.

The other foreign nationals killed were from Canada, New Zealand and Pakistan, the Interior Ministry said, but the New Zealand and Pakistani foreign ministries denied any of their citizens were among the dead.

Another official said two Bangladeshis were among those killed. That information could not be verified.

“We are devastated by this terrible news,” said Gilles Campion, AFP’s Asia-Pacific regional director. ”... [Ahmad] always exercised immense courage and objectivity when reporting despite the risks faced by journalists in that country.” “Sardar was among the finest of the journalists here in Afghanistan,” Senator Nisar Hares said outside the morgue. “He was brave, and he was a good person.” The attack occurred during an uptick in violence against civilians and foreigners. A Swedish journalist was shot point-blank this month in broad daylight on a Kabul street.

In January, a Lebanese restaurant popular with foreigners was attacked by a suicide bomber and gunmen. Thirteen foreigners and eight Afghans were killed.

Earlier Thursday, the Taliban killed 10 Afghan policemen and one civilian in an assault on a police base in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

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