18 dead in Taliban hotel siege at Kabul

Kabul, January 21 

A Taliban assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan's capital killed at least 18 persons, including 14 foreigners, and pinned security forces down for more than 13 hours before the last attacker was killed today, with the casualty toll expected to rise.

The heavily-guarded luxury hotel is popular among foreigners and Afghan officials. Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said the 18 killed included 14 foreigners and a telecommunications official from the western Farah province who was attending a conference.

“Eleven of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline,” said Danish. KamAir also put out an announcement saying some of their flights were disrupted because of the attack. Ukraine says one of its citizens was killed in the attack. 

Ten other persons, including six from the security forces, were reported wounded and more than 150 persons, including 41 foreigners, were rescued from the hotel, Danish said.

The Taliban claimed the attack, which began around 9 pm yesterday, saying five gunmen armed with suicide vests targeted foreigners and Afghan officials.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgents initially planned to attack the hotel on Thursday night but postponed the assault because there was a wedding underway and they wanted to avoid civilian casualties. — AP