Suicide attackers launched a dawn attack on the outskirts of Kabul, killing seven, just hours after US president Barack Obama visited the Afghan capital and claimed that the last three years of fighting had broken the Taliban’s momentum.

Witnesses said at least four attackers were involved, shrouded in all-enveloping burqas. They headed to the Green Village compound, which houses hundreds of foreign workers including UN staff, EU police trainers and many private security contractors.