A suicide bomber struck an upmarket district of the Afghan capital Kabul on Tuesday near a hotel and guest house frequented by foreigners, killing eight people and wounding another 40, officials said. It was the latest in a string of attacks in Kabul blamed on the Taliban and came as President Hamid Karzai convened a flagship conference on corruption in another part of the city. The attacker blew himself up outside the gate of the Heetal hotel in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, near a guest house and the home of Afghanistan's former first vice president, Ahmad Zia Massoud. "All the doors of the taxi were blown open by the force of the blast and the car turned full circle because the force of the blast was so big," said witness Nanghirlay, 25, who was travelling two blocks away when the bomber struck.