Kabul Intercontinental Hotel under attack

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghan security forces have been engaged in firefight with gunmen who stormed Kabul's landmark Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday evening, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Sunday.

MoI Spokesman Najibullah Danish has just told reporters at the site of attack that almost all the assailants had been killed by security forces and the situation were under control.

Several blasts and explosion had been heard from inside the hotel. Flams of fire and thick fog could be seen going upward from the Intercontinental Hotel.

Ambulances and security forces were seen rushing towards the site of attack, according to the residents of the area. Mainly foreign citizen stay at the facility situated at the highly secure location.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Residents near the hotel said gunfire could be heard from inside the Intercontinental Hotel. They said a number of armed men were inside the hotel, trading fire with security forces.

One resident of the high-altitude area, who lived about two kilometers from the hotel, told Pajhwok several security forces vehicles and ambulances had arrived at the scene.

Security sources said the attackers had reached the hotel’s second floor where a number of people were attending an event. A fire also occurred on the hotel’s fourth floor. 

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told a foreign news agency that the hotel’s first and second floors had been cleared and three wounded guests taken to hospital. He said some guests had been rescued.

The Intercontinental was last targeted in June 2011 when a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed 21 people, including 10 civilians.

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