Kabul hotel attack ends, 3 assailants killed

KABUL (Pajhwok): The attack on a hotel in Kabul’s Shehri Naw area came to an end late Monday after all three assailants were killed, an official said, with the emergency hospital receiving three dead bodies and 18 injured people.

The attack began at around 2:30pm when gunmen stormed the hotel used by Chinese in the area between Haji Yaqoob and Ansari intersections.

Islamic Emirate spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on his Twitter page that the attack on the hotel had ended with the killing of three attackers.

He said all guests at the hotel were saved and no foreigner was killed. According to him, only two foreign guests were injured when they fell from a high roof.

However, the emergency hospital on its Twitter page said three dead bodies and 18 wounded people were brought to the hospital from the attack site.

The attack comes a day after Chinese ambassador in Kabul met deputy minister of foreign affairs Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and asked the caretaker government to pay more attention to the security of the country’s embassy.

Stanikzai said that ensuring security of foreign diplomatic missions in Afghanistan was a priority of the Islamic Emirate.

A Pajhwok reporter close to the area said a fire broke out on one of the hotel’s floors and smoke billowed out of the multi-storey building.

He said security forces had cordoned off the scene and were allowing no one to go near the site.

Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said a hotel building where ordinary people lived was attacked by ‘evil elements’. He said security forces had reached the scene and were trying to secure the area.

Residents of the area said Chinese and other foreigners usually stayed in the hotel. The shooting continued after a powerful explosion.

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