Gunmen attack Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel

Breaking News Kabul: HighlightsFour heavily-armed gunmen raided Kabul s landmark Intercontinental Hotel The fourth ground of the hotel had been set on hearth at some stage in the raid The closing essential attack on a high-give up motel in Kabul became in March 2014 Four closely-armed gunmen raided Kabul s landmark Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday taking pictures at guests and staff and placing the building on fire officials said in an hours-lengthy assault this is nevertheless ongoing.Special forces have been lowered by way of helicopters onto the roof of the luxury hilltop hotel all through the siege interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi instructed AFP adding two attackers were killed.There changed into no instant claim of duty for the brand new attack inside the conflict-torn Afghan capital that observed a series of safety warnings in current days to keep away from hotels and different places frequented by way of foreigners.It isn't always clean how many humans are nonetheless in the inn which turned into formerly attacked by Taliban militants in 2011 or whether any foreigners are amongst them. Four attackers are inside the building an reputable at the National Directorate of Security (NDS) spy agency advised AFP at the start of the assault.They are taking pictures at visitors he stated.A guest hiding in a room told AFP he could pay attention gunfire in the Nineteen Sixties inn wherein dozens of human beings attending an records era conference on Sunday have been staying. I don http://www.kzncomsafety.gov.za/UserProfile/tabid/255/userId/72401/Default.aspx t realize if the attackers are in the motel however I can listen gunfire from someplace close to the first floor the man who did not need to be named stated by way of telephone. We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the safety forces to rescue us as soon as feasible earlier than they attain and kill us. His smartphone was switched off while AFP attempted to touch him once more.Rahimi stated  the attackers have been armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades after they stormed the motel that's a popular venue for weddings meetings and political gatherings. Seven wounded human beings have been taken to hospital Rahimi said. Some different visitors had been rescued. We could be capable of release casualty figures as soon as the operation ends. But several hours after the attack started Afghan protection spokesmen switched off their cell phones or refused to answer AFP s calls for an replace.Afghan media is reporting more than one casualties within the attack which comes days after a UN Security Council delegation visited Kabul for a close-up view of the struggle.The fourth ground of the motel which boasts several restaurants and an outside swimming pool had been set on hearth throughout the raid the NDS authentic said.Security questionedThe final fundamental assault on a excessive-quit hotel in Kabul changed into in March 2014 whilst four teenage gunmen raided the Serena killing nine human beings inclusive of an AFP journalist.The Intercontinental turned into focused in June 2011 when a suicide assault claimed with the aid of the Taliban killed 21 human beings along with 10 civilians.Even before Saturday s attack was over government were questioning how the assailants got past the motel s safety which changed into taken over via a private agency weeks ago indoors ministry spokesman Najib Danish instructed AFP. They probably used a lower back door inside the kitchen to enter he said.Abdullah Sabet an legit at the communications and records era ministry said IT officers from across the country had been staying at the lodge ahead of a conference on Sunday. There have been forty of them in the resort. We don t recognise if any of them had been killed or wounded Sabet stated.Security on the Intercontinental which is not a part of the global InterContinental chain is highly lax compared with different luxury lodges in Kabul.A conference on Afghanistan-China relations was held in one among its feature rooms in advance Saturday attended via the Chinese embassy s political counsellor Zhang Zhixin.An AFP reporter who attended the convention surpassed via two car security checkpoints. At the entrance to the building there was a bodily inspection that would be easily evaded by means of scaling a low-level barrier and entering the foyer.Security alerts despatched in recent days to foreigners dwelling within the Afghan capital warned that extremist companies can be making plans an attack against resorts in Kabul as well as public gatherings and different locations wherein foreigners are acknowledged to congregate .US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it changed into now not regarded if any American residents had been caught up inside the assault.Security in Kabul has been tightened due to the fact that May 31 when a large truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic zone killing some one hundred fifty people and wounding around four hundred others -- on the whole civilians. No organization has yet claimed that attack. CommentsClose X ISIS has claimed maximum of the current assaults inside the Afghan capital but government suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in at least a number of them.The deadliest of the current attacks came about at a Shiite cultural centre on December 29 while a suicide bomber blew himself up killing extra than forty people. NEW DELHI: India on Thursday morning successfully carried out the primary pre-induction trial of its over 5 000-km range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile which brings the whole of Asia and China as well parts of Europe and Africa within its nuclear strike envelope. Sources said the united states s most formidable missile will undergo one extra such pre-induction trial within this year before it is inducted into the Agni-V regiment already raised by way of the tri-Service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) with the requisite command and control structures. We have efficiently released nuclear succesful ballistic missile Agni-V these days: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman i... Https://t.Co/G98p11cg6h ANI (@ANI) 1516255489000 Once that takes place India will gate-crash into the notable-one  https://kkgoibibo.jimdo.com/ of a kind club of nations with ICBMs (missiles with more than a few over 5 000-five 500km) just like the US Russia China France and the UK. While a belligerent North Korea over the past six-seven month has rattled america with checks of its new ICBMs Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 professional opinion remains divided whether or not they're absolutely-operational and deployed as of now. India of course needs a reputable strategic deterrent in opposition to an competitive and expansionist China which has a huge arsenal of nuclear-succesful ballistic missiles. The SFC already has regiments of the Prithvi-II (350-km) Agni-I (seven-hundred-km) Agni-II (2 000-km)