Taliban Claims Responsibility After Gunmen Attack Luxury Hotel In Kabul

The employee Hasibullah said he saw two “fashionably dressed” gunmen in the hotel restaurant before the assault began.

An Afghan official says insurgents have killed 18 members of a pro-government militia in northern Afghanistan, in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which started around 9 p.m. Saturday.

At least 150 people were killed last May when a road-side bomb was detonated outside the German embassy in the Afghan capital. Both men worked for the Afghan airline KAM. “As the security forces got in late, the attackers had enough time to go door to door and kill people”.

“They were wearing very stylish clothes”, he said.

He shouted “I’m Afghan”.

Afghan security officials confirmed that 34 provincial officials were gathered at the hotel to participate in a conference organized by the Telecommunication Ministry.

He claimed several foreign troops and guests suffered casualties in the during the attack that ended at 11am Sunday. We mourn all those who lost their lives in the attack, whether Afghans or citizens of other countries. “Strongly condemn terrorist attack in Kabul”, he wrote.

But at least five civilians, including one foreigner, was killed and six others, including four policemen, were injured during the rescue operation. U.S Ambassador John R. Bass called it a “heinous” assault and said Afghanistan “deserves peace and security, not deliberate and murderous attacks on innocent civilians”.

The interior minister said the recent decision to transfer security to a private company had been a mistake. “We can’t rule out the possibility the terrorists had inside help”.

According to one witness, who did not want to be named, the attackers took hotel staff and guests hostage.

“We believe they were inside from before”, he told AFP of the attackers.

Footage from outside the building showed fire and black smoke emanating from the hotel’s top floor, while at least one person uses a bedsheet to rappel from one balcony to the one below. He survived a jump to the ground, suffering two broken legs, a broken back and internal injuries.

Before the authorities took control, a hotel guest told the Conspiracy Talk News agency, that the clients were hiding in their rooms.