Afghan security forces surrounded a hideout of suspected militants attempting to launch attacks in Kabul early Wednesday morning and the ensuing fighting left five militants dead, witnesses and officials said.

Firing erupted around 1 a.m. local time near a house located on the mountain near a traditional garden in western part of the capital, local residents said.

A Xinhua reporter on the spot saw ambulances rushed to the area for carrying bodies.

An intelligence service official who declined to be named told Xinhua that the operation was completed and five suspected militants were killed and one more was arrested.

A resident close to the scene said the suspected assailants moved to the house about one week ago and some seven to eight men and one woman were living inside.

Another local who identified himself by one name Ghofran told Xinhua that two security men were also killed by militants using heavy weapons.

The overnight operation came as Kabul tightened the security after a failed life attempt on Afghan president Hamid Karzai by militants during a April 27 military parade.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2008)