Kabul police station hit by suicide bombers, 9 dead

Three suicide bombers disguised as Afghan soldiers attacked a police station in the center of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, Saturday and killed nine people.

The police reportedly noticed one of the militants approaching the station acting strange and shot him. A second militant then detonated his vest, killing three police officers, one intelligence agent and five civilians, the Los Angeles Times reports.

"In this attack, three policemen, five civilians and one intelligence agent were killed and two policemen and 10 civilians were wounded," the Interior Ministry said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

As the police focused on the attack, a third militant slipped into the compound and battled police for two hours before being shot dead, the Los Angeles Times states.

Taliban spokesman Zabullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a text message claiming to be from him sent during the incident.

The Taliban and other militant groups have increasingly targeted Afghan security forces, government officials and NATO workers, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports.

Meanwhile, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday U.S. and other western officials have opened talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the insurgency.

However, Karzai denied reports that his government is talking to the Taliban.

“From the government side we don’t have any negotiations with them, but the important part is negotiations with the Pakistanis, which are very important for us," he said, as reported in the New York Times.

“The negotiations have started with those people, and God willing these talks will continue. But foreign military forces and especially America are continuing this process."