7 people were killed in the siege of an Afghan government ministry. All 5 attackers are also dead,

An hourslong siege on the Afghan communications ministry in Kabul ended Saturday after security forces killed all five attackers, authorities said.

Four civilians and three police officers were slain in the incident, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mojahid said. Eight others were wounded in the assault.

The attack began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives just outside the communications ministry, Mojahid said. Four other assailants then entered the ministry, the police spokesman said.

A crisis response team was sent to the scene. After almost five hours of fighting, security forces killed the remaining four attackers, Mojahid said.

Hundreds of civilians were evacuated from buildings housing the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Culture, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimy told CNN.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

The attack follows several months of relative calm in Kabul and comes just one day after US-led peace talks between Afghan leaders and the Taliban were postponed “to further build consensus as to who should participate in the conference,” according to a letter from Sultan Barakat of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute.

CNN’s Sara Mazloumsaki and Jennifer Deaton in Atlanta contributed to this report