Security cameras show Taliban gunmen smuggling small pistols into a Kabul hotel late on Thursday.

This footage was captured just hours before an assault that killed nine people.

Here, the four men walk through the initial security checkpoint. A guard searches them.

Then a metal detector - with another search.

They are then seen walking through the Serena hotel's lobby toward the restaurant.

The gunmen waited for the restaurant to fill up before emerging to shoot guests point-blank.

One of the gunmen takes cover at a doorway before taking a shot at a figure in the distance, later identified as a member of the Afghan security forces.