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On a balcony overlooking the lake, a 22nd birthday cake lay half eaten on a table surrounded by a dozen empty chairs. Nearby sprawled the bloodied body of a young man shot repeatedly in the chest.

Like many of the victims, he was dressed in Western clothes - jeans, T-shirt and sports shoes - a sign of the wealthy clientele that frequented the upmarket hotel.

Afghan security officials carry a body from the scene of the attack by Taliban militants at a hotel

Afghan special forces soldiers display an AK-47 weapon and ammunition magazines used by militants during the attack on the hotel

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NATO UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters fly near the Spozhmai Hotel in Qargha lake Photo: AFP/GETTY

Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers take positions on a hill near the Spozhmai Hotel following an attack by Taliban militant at Qargha lake on the outskirts of Kabul

An Afghan policeman photographs the body of one of the men who attacked the hotel 

Eight-year-old Rasoul Khan, who had a cleaning job at the hotel said: "They were asking everyone where the pimps were." Khan, bearing a facial injury, continued: "They shot anyone who would not co-operate with them."

Terrified guests jumped into the lake in the darkness to escape the carnage. Up to 300 people had been inside the hotel when the attack began.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said 12 to 15 civilians, two hotel guards and a policeman were killed in the gunbattle at the Spozhmai hotel, overlooking Qargha Lake. Five attackers were also killed.

The night-time assault on the hotel with rocket-propelled grenades, suicide vests and machine guns again proved how potent the Islamist insurgency remains after a decade of war.

Heavily armed attackers first shot the restaurant guards and then took hostages at the venue on the shore of Qargha Lake, west of the capital.

Customers jumped into the lake in panic, or hid in bushes, as they desperately telephoned their relatives for help after the assault late on Thursday evening.

A spokesman for the Taliban insurgent movement said the Spozhmai Hotel had been targeted because it was used by Afghan officials and foreigners for drinking alcohol and womanizing.

Police and witnesses however denied there were foreigners present when the gunmen burst in and said the upmarket restaurant had instead been packed with families, including many women and children, who were holding parties.

The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan said the attack bore the signature of the Taliban-linked Haqqani group that he said continued to operate from Pakistan, a charge that could further escalate tensions with Islamabad.

A man cries after losing relatives in the attack on the hotel

Gen John Allen's comments came just days after Leon Panetta, the US Defence Secretary, said Washington was at the limits of its patience with Pakistan over the existence of militant networks including the Haqqanis.

Up to 14 Afghan civilians, three security guards and an Afghan police officer died in the attack, said Mohammad Zahir, criminal director for Kabul police.

"The attackers entered the hotel and suddenly opened fire on families having a late dinner," he told AP.

"The hotel was crowded. Some of the guests jumped from the window into the hotel yard. They were hiding under trees or any safe place they could find.

"Three of the guests jumped into the lake and hid in the water.” he added.

A man who was taken hostage by militants is hugged by a friend outside the Spozhmai Hotel

The attack was the latest in a string of suicide assaults on the Afghan capital, but the first for some time against such a purely civilian target.

Such attacks underline the continuing inability of the Afghan government and its Nato backers to secure the capital, but coalition commanders argue they achieve nothing for the Taliban except media coverage.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, condemned the attack on such a soft target as proof the Taliban movement was weakening.

Qargha Lake, west of the capital, is a popular picnic and daytrip destination and is surrounded by restaurants, pavilions and guesthouses.

The two-storey Spozhmai Hotel is one of the most upmarket of the restaurants and had been filled with several hundred guests when the attackers struck at around 11pm.

Mustpha, a 26-year-old student, said his brother Faisal, 23, had been inside when the shooting began and had called his family for help as he hid in the restaurant grounds.

Elite Afghan police backed by NATO forces ended a 12-hour siege at a popular hotel outside Kabul, leaving at least 20 dead after Taliban gunmen stormed the lakeside building, bursting into a party and seizing dozens of hostages.

“He was very scared and pleaded with me to get the security forces to rescue him” he told The Daily Telegraph.

The restaurant had been packed with families eating and listening to music, he said. Several wealthy Afghans had attended with bodyguards, but it was unclear if there were political figures present.

Faisal was freed unharmed after nearly 11 hours of siege.

There was no sign of alcohol when reporters were shown around the bullet-riddled hotel soon after the shooting had ended.

Fire had gutted the main dining room and the lakeside terrace was scattered with bullet casings and overturned garden furniture. A smashed birthday cake lay in one corner.

The attackers, who lay where they had been shot, were men in their late teens or early twenties.

Afghan security forces celebrate their victory after the long siege was ended at Spozhmai hotel

Mutasal, a member of the Afghan military crisis response unit, said he had personally shot dead two of the five attackers as he cleared the staircase to the first floor of the restaurant.

“It was a very difficult fight and we had to be careful because our goal was to rescue the civilians,” he said.

Afghan and Nato officials said the operation to free the hostages had been led by the fledgling Afghan forces, but up to two dozen members of the Norwegian special forces could be seen leaving the scene soon after the shooting ended.

Mr Zahir said: "The Taliban propaganda is saying that there was immoral activity there and that people were drinking alcohol.

"That is totally wrong. These are people who had worked all week and had gone to the lake to have a restful dinner with their families.”

Chanzo: Telegraph