Several people killed after gunmen attack luxury hotel in Kabul

Afghanistan Several people killed after gunmen assault luxurious inn in Kabul Afghan special forces kill two of the 4 attackers and surround constructing as night falls Emma Graham-Harrison Haroon Janjua in Peshawar and agencies Sat 20 Jan 2018 20.29 GMT First posted on Sat 20 Jan 2018 18.59 GMT Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share through Email View extra sharing alternatives Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share https://freesound.org/people/kkjabong/ on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Afghan protection officials close to the Intercontinental lodge in Kabul on Saturday. Photograph: Jawad Jalali/EPA Several humans have been killed and at least six wounded when four gunmen attacked Kabul s famous Intercontinental lodge on Saturday. The gang reportedly additionally took hostages from among workforce and guests and set the constructing ablaze. Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahim said people had died and others were injured however could not deliver information of casualty numbers. At least two of the four attackers were killed as Afghan unique forces engaged the gunmen in the hotel it become stated. The soldiers had cleared the primary ground of the six-storey building and have been searching different floors for the raiders who appeared to have a large supply of hand grenades. The resort s vicinity in Kabul. The motel s location in Kabul. Hours after the assault commenced firing appeared to ease as safety forces settled in looking forward to dawn. The militants including at the least one suicide bomber launched the assault at approximately 9pm nearby time on Saturday safety officials said. A witness said a few foreigners had been the various inn guests however it became not clear what their nationalities have been. The inn have been due to host an statistics generation conference on Sunday and extra than 100 IT managers and engineers have been onsite while the assault occurred Ahmad Waheed an authentic on the telecommunications ministry stated. The gunmen had entered the lodge through a kitchen door to evade heavy protection on the the front local information reviews said. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Afghan security forces keeping watch near the Intercontinental lodge on Saturday. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters We are hiding in our rooms I beg the safety forces to rescue us as soon as possible earlier than they attain and kill us one guest informed AFP at the begin of the attack. I can pay attention gunfire from somewhere near the primary ground. Two guests at the inn confirmed that the militants attacked after they were consuming and that people inside the eating room had attempted to flee. Ahsan Ali instructed the Observer: People ran to their rooms and locked themselves in it became a dreadful scene. It turned into the trendy important blow to security within the Afghan capital which has been reeling from a string of bloody attacks by both Taliban and Isis militants. In May last 12 months a massive truck bomb devastated a part of the diplomatic sector killing approximately 150 people and wounding approximately four hundred others. The maximum recent fundamental attack became on 29 December whilst a suicide bomber targeted a Shia cultural centre killing extra than 40 humans. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Intercontinental motel in Kabul. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters No institution has yet claimed responsibility for the assault on the Intercontinental which came simply two days after the USA embassy put out a warning that militants might be making plans to goal motels within the town. The blaze at the top floors of the hilltop complicated might be visible from across the town. Commando forces have been sent in and power changed into cut quickly after the assault started amid fears that guests have been taken hostage. Hotel supervisor Ahmad Haris Nayab who managed to get away unharmed advised Reuters people have been fleeing amid bursts of gunfire on all sides. One of the maximum famous homes in Kabul the Intercontinental become a playground for the town s elite when it opened in 1969 with events around the swimming pool and weddings in its halls. Its desires of a caliphate are long gone. Now Isis has a lethal new strategy more It become later a base for foreign newshounds in the course of the civil struggle that accompanied the Russian withdrawal then all through the duration of Taliban rule and the US-led invasion inside the wake of the September 11 assaults on America. It has no longer been a part of the InterContinental Hotels institution seeing that 1980 but hung on to the name which had come to mark out one of the metropolis s landmarks. Refurbished a decade ago it have become famous for activities and meetings and in 2011 was targeted through the Taliban in an attack that killed 21 people. The US has stepped up aid to Afghan police and soldiers in recent months and expanded airstrikes on insurgents across the u . S . A .. But security officers have warned that strain on the battlefield ought to increase the chance of attacks within the capital as insurgents try to prove their reach. Isis has additionally been attempting to introduce sectarian violence into a conflict that had formerly prevented at least that precise poison. For all of the civilian deaths in Kabul over four many years of civil conflict until the upward thrust of Isis very few may be chalked up to the Sunni-Shia tensions that have claimed such a lot of lives from Iraq to Pakistan. Topics Afghanistan South and Central Asia Taliban news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share thru Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content material Breaking News KABUL: Gunmen attacked Kabul s Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday seizing hostages and changing gunfire with safety forces as the building in the Afghan capital stuck fireplace and citizens and group of workers fled. Hotel supervisor Ahmad Haris Nayab who escaped unharmed said the attackers had were given into the primary a part of the hotel through a kitchen and those tried to get out amid bursts of gunfire. Several humans were killed and at least six wounded in the raid which came days after a US embassy caution of viable assaults on inns in Kabul Nasrat Rahimi an indoors ministry spokesman said. However officials gave no different information on casualty numbers. There became no immediate declare of duty for the present day in an extended series of attacks which underlined the town s precarious situation and the ability of militants to strike blows aimed toward undermining self assurance inside the Western-backed government. Officials said there were as many as 4 attackers and at least of them were killed as Afghan Special Forces cleared the primary ground and moved up the building scuffling with the raiders who appeared to have a massive deliver of hand grenades. Hours after the attack began firing appeared to ease as safety forces settled in anticipating sunrise. According to 1 witness who did no longer need to be named the attackers took a few hotel workforce and visitors hostage. He said a few foreigners were many of the resort guests but it changed into not clear what their nationality become. The Intercontinental Hotel positioned on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public homes in Kabul become previously attacked via Taliban warring parties in 2011. It is one of two fundamental luxurious inns inside the metropolis and had been due to host an statistics generation convention on Sunday. More than a hundred IT managers and engineers have been on web page while the assault happened Ahmad Waheed an professional at the telecommunications ministry stated. US WARNING The attack got here days after a United Nations Security Council go to to Kabul to permit senior representatives of member states to evaluate the scenario in Afghanistan. Many details of the incident have been nevertheless doubtful however Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish stated a non-public organisation had taken over safety approximately three weeks in the past. The US embassy in Kabul had issued a warning to US residents on Thursday announcing We are aware of reviews that extremist corporations can be making plans an attack towards accommodations in Kabul. The State Department stated it changed into monitoring the state of affairs and became in touch with Afghan government to determine whether or not any US residents were affected. Captain Tom Gresback spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support venture in Afghanistan said they were additionally looking carefully but it changed into not clean whether or not worldwide forces took component in suppressing the attack. Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are main the response efforts. According to preliminary reports no Resolute Support or (US forces) participants have been injured in this incident he said in an emailed declaration. Although the NATO-led Resolute Support project says the Taliban has come below pressure after america multiplied help to Afghan protection forces and stepped up air moves against insurgents protection remains precarious. As strain at the battlefield has elevated safety officers have warned that the hazard of assaults on excessive-profile targets in Kabul and other towns would boom. After repeated assaults in Kabul substantially an incident last May wherein a truck bomber killed at least a hundred and fifty human beings outside the German embassy protection has been further tightened. While it shares the equal name the resort in Kabul isn't always part of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) which issued a assertion in 2011 pronouncing that the inn Inter-continental in Kabul isn't part of IHG and has no longer been on account that 1980 . Photo An Afghan soldier close to the site of an attack at the Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday in Kabul. Credit Mohammad Ismail/Reuters KABUL Afghanistan Armed insurgents stormed Kabul s biggest inn on Saturday placing off an explosion and sparking a hearth trapping hundreds of inn guests inside Afghan officers showed.There became no records on the number of casualties because the armed attackers saved the government at bay.Military and civilian ambulances stood with the aid of at the scene and helicopters and surveillance drones turned around overhead hours after the standoff first started out round nine p.M. Nearby time and which become nonetheless taking place nicely past 2 a.M. Our special forces are getting into the building said Gen. Afzal Aman commander of the Kabul Garrison an elite unit of police and squaddies this is answerable for protection in the capital who became reached by means of mobile phone at the scene. The attackers are at one facet of the constructing. There are guests trapped of their rooms. We do now not recognize who're the attackers. Advertisement Continue studying the main story Najib Danish the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior confirmed the attack and said he believed 4 attackers had entered the main constructing of the lodge which has hundreds of visitor rooms. Continue studying the main story Kabul: Gunmen burst into Kabul s luxury Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday taking pictures at guests and body of workers and placing the constructing on fireplace officers said as protection forces battled to cease the greater than eight hours-long attack.Special forces have been lowered by helicopters onto the roof of the landmark hilltop inn at some stage in the night time-time siege indoors ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi instructed AFP adding two attackers were killed.There changed into no on the spot claim of duty for the brand new assault within the war-torn Afghan capital that observed a chain of security warnings in recent days to keep away from resorts and different places frequented by foreigners.It isn't always clear how many humans are nonetheless within the inn which became previously attacked by way of Taliban militants in 2011 or whether any foreigners are amongst them.A guest hiding in a room informed AFP he may want to hear gunfire within the 1960s hotel where dozens of humans attending an statistics technology conference on Sunday have been staying. I don t recognise if the attackers are inside the resort but I can hear gunfire from somewhere near the primary ground the man who did no longer want to be named stated through telephone. We are hiding in our rooms. I beg the security forces to rescue us as soon as viable before they attain and kill us. His phone changed into switched off while AFP tried to contact him once more. Hostages taken Local resident Abdul Sattar said he had spoken by cellphone to some of his buddies who are chefs and waiters at the hotel and are trapped inside. Suddenly they attacked the dinner accumulating... (then) they broke into the rooms took some people hostage and they opened fire on a number of them he advised AFP.An respectable at Afghanistan s spy corporation told AFP at the start of the assault that four assailants have been within the constructing.They are taking pictures at visitors the National Directorate of Security authentic said.Rahimi stated the attackers were armed with small weapons and rocket-propelled grenades when they stormed the resort that is a popular venue for weddings conferences and political gatherings. Seven wounded people were taken to hospital Rahimi said. Some other visitors had been rescued. We could be capable of release casualty figures once the operation ends. But numerous hours after the assault commenced Afghan safety spokesmen switched off their cellular telephones or refused to reply AFP s calls for an replace on casualties.Afghan media is reporting more than one casualties inside the assault which comes days after a UN Security Council delegation visited Kabul for a near-up view of the conflict. An legit stated that four assailants had been in the constructing at the beginning of the attack.The fourth ground of the inn which boasts numerous restaurants and an out of doors swimming pool had been set on fire in the course of the raid the NDS authentic stated.Security questionedThe ultimate foremost attack on a high-end lodge in Kabul was in March 2014 while 4 teenage gunmen raided the Serena killing 9 humans inclusive of AFP journalist Sardar Ahmad.The Intercontinental turned into previously focused in June 2011 while a suicide assault claimed by using the Taliban killed 21 people consisting of 10 civilians.Even earlier than Saturday s assault become over government had been thinking how the assailants were given beyond the lodge s protection which become taken over by way of a private enterprise two weeks in the past interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish advised AFP. They probable used a again door inside the kitchen to go into he stated.Abdullah Sabet an reputable on the communications and facts generation ministry stated IT officers from around the u . S . A . Have been staying at the motel ahead of a conference on Sunday. There had been forty of them in the inn. We don t recognise if any of them have been killed or wounded Sabet stated.Security at the Intercontinental which isn't part of the worldwide InterContinental chain is fantastically lax compared with different luxury hotels in Kabul.A convention on Afghanistan-China relations changed into held in one in all its function rooms in advance Saturday attended by way of the Chinese embassy s political counsellor Zhang Zhixin.An AFP reporter who attended the conference surpassed thru vehicle security checkpoints.At the doorway to the building there has been a bodily inspection that might be without difficulty kept away from by scaling a low-level barrier and entering the foyer.Security indicators despatched in current days to foreigners living inside the Afghan capital warned that extremist businesses may be making plans an attack towards inns in Kabul in addition to public gatherings and other places wherein foreigners are regarded to congregate .US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it turned into not acknowledged if any American citizens have been caught up inside the assault.Security in Kabul has been tightened considering May 31 whilst a large truck bomb ripped thru the diplomatic zone killing some a hundred and fifty people and wounding around 400 others -- mostly civilians. No institution has but claimed that assault. CommentsClose X ISIS has claimed maximum of the recent attacks within the Afghan capital however authorities suspect that the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network has been involved in at the least a number of them.The deadliest of the current attacks came about at a Shiite cultural centre on December 29 when a suicide bomber blew himself up killing more than 40 people. NEW DELHI: A rocket landed within the Indian Embassy premises in Kabul causing minor harm to a structure however all of the assignment workforce were safe outside affairs ministry said this night. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar stated there https://www.codechef.com/users/kkflipkart/ has been no fire and no casualties have been pronounced inside the incident. A rocket landed inside the premises of our Embassy in Kabul a while ago causing minor harm to a shape at rear facet of the Embassy compound he tweeted. He additionally stated that India s Charge d Affaires there knowledgeable that each one the Embassy personnel had been safe. It become not clear whether or not the target of the assault turned into the Indian Embassy that is located within the high-safety diplomatic zone of the Afghan capital. Afghanistan Scores killed in Isis bombing of Kabul news organization and Shia centre At least 41 humans killed and 80 wounded in sectarian assault in Afghan capital that UN said deliberately targeted children Emma Graham-Harrison and Haroon Janjua Thu 28 Dec 2017 15.36 GMT First posted on Thu 28 Dec 2017 08.38 GMT Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share through Email View extra sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Play Video 1:29 Dozens die in Isis suicide bombing in Kabul video Islamic State has killed at least 41 human beings and injured more than 80 others in an assault on a Shia cultural centre and information agency that share a constructing in Kabul. The bombings had been the modern-day in a particularly bloody year for the Afghan capital even by the requirements of a country inured to decades of conflict. The first explosion became detonated by means of a suicide bomber sitting amongst students at a lecture marking the 38th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The loss of life toll rose over the day as hospitals struggled to cope and may climb in addition. The hall turned into packed with the human beings whilst there was a blast on the returned said Ali Abbas Qul a college scholar who had attended the lecture. He wept outside a health center in garments still stained with the blood of two buddies. People commenced jogging everywhere. Many lost awareness. I lost my buddies and collected their bodies. Many of the college college students are nonetheless lacking. Two more blasts outdoor the constructing targeted security and scientific offerings and people trying to positioned out a hearth started out with the aid of the first bomb. I was looking to assist those who had been injured and killed within the first two blasts when the third explosion hit said Saed Qasem Rahmati 35 a former worker at the cultural centre who rushed to assist after the first bomb and became still in surprise. Many of the victims have been badly burned he said and he feared that numerous friends is probably some of the unidentifiable bodies. Kabul map The explosions killed at least one journalist working for the Afghan Voice information organization whose offices had been at the ground above the cultural centre. Ali Reza Ahmadi stated he had leapt from his 2d-ground workplace after seeing flames coming from the building. I jumped from the roof towards the basement yelling at people to get water to place out the fire he instructed the AP. Isis s Amaaq news organisation stated the cultural centre were focused by means of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) the overall name of the institution s Afghan affiliate as it was funded by Iran and used to spread Shia ideals. It was the latest sectarian attack in a capital that had as soon as been relatively proof against such violence. For all of the http://kkgrof.host-sc.com/ civilian deaths in Kabul over four a long time of civil conflict till the upward thrust of Isis only a few might be chalked as much as the Sunni-Shia tensions that have claimed such a lot of lives from Iraq to Pakistan. Now a set with a sturdy sectarian agenda seems to have outstripped the house-grown Taliban in inflicting violence on Kabul. This is ISKP s 7th suicide bombing inside the capital considering the fact that 20 Oct killing a hundred thirty humans in general making ISKP a larger risk in Kabul than Taliban for this era as a minimum Borhan Osman a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group tweeted. The shift in attack prices from the institution that has led the insurgency for almost decades to Isis which is noticeably new changed into as soon as not possible Osman said. The fashion is traumatic because very little is known about Isis operations in Kabul Osman warned. Fighters in Afghanistan s east wherein Osama bin Laden as soon as hid inside the Tora Bora caves have acquired some distance more press and navy attention. With the focal point on Nangarhar we know little about ISKP Kabul mobile Osman wrote. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police officers keep watch after the explosions in Kabul. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images A senior Isis commander speakme to the Guardian from an undisclosed region said the organization aimed to update the Taliban and might retain with its coverage of sectarian assaults. Isis is constantly recruiting Taliban commanders and fighters and intentionally hard the Taliban s dominance he said. The Taliban within the past have negotiated with the US and the government in Kabul diverting from the jihad. What they may be doing isn't Islamic jihad. In November the United Nations warned of a brand new fashion of assaults on Shia Muslims and locations of worship that began in 2016. Mostly claimed through Isis together they have got killed or injured masses of human beings. Beginning in 2016 a pattern of assaults towards Shia worshippers emerged in particular claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province the UN stated. Prior to that the simplest main sectarian attack documented by the UN was a bombing at a non secular festival in 2011 claimed via the Pakistani militant group Laskhar-e-Jhangvi. The UN stated many children were probable to be amongst the ones killed in Thursday s bombing because households had gathered at the centre to mark the national day. I even have little doubt that this assault deliberately targeted civilians stated Toby Lanzer the appearing head of the task in Afghanistan. Today in Kabul we've witnessed another truly despicable crime in a 12 months already marked by unspeakable atrocities. Topics Afghanistan South and Central Asia news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share through Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content Afghanistan Kabul protest hit with the aid of deadly bomb assault At least eleven people killed in suicide attack in Afghan capital as each Isis and the Taliban ramp up assaults Agence France-Presse in Kabul Thu four Jan 2018 19.26 GMT Last changed on Thu 4 Jan 2018 19.Fifty one GMT Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share thru Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close A suicide attacker detonated a device near police providing protection for a protest in Kabul an interior ministry spokesman stated. Photograph: AP A suicide attacker blew himself up close to a crowd of police and protesters in Kabul on Thursday killing at least eleven people and wounding 25 others in the ultra-modern deadly violence to bring carnage to the Afghan capital. A suicide attacker has detonated himself close to some of police who have been looking to provide safety for an ongoing protest the deputy indoors ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP. Health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh stated eleven bodies have been taken to hospitals around the metropolis in conjunction with 25 wounded. He delivered that the toll should upward push. A security source who spoke to AFP on the situation of anonymity said 20 people had been killed and 20 wounded inside the assault however the better death toll couldn't be right away showed. There was no immediately claim of obligation for the attack which occurred throughout a protest following the demise of a shopkeeper for the duration of a police operation targeting alcohol and bootleggers an unnamed legit stated. The deadly attack comes a week after more than forty people had been killed and dozens greater wounded in a suicide blast claimed by way of Islamic State which centered Shia Muslims in Kabul. The capital has become one of the deadliest locations in struggle-torn Afghanistan for civilians in current months as the Taliban step up assaults and Isis seeks to amplify its presence within the u . S .. Last week s assault came days after a suicide bomber killed six civilians in a Christmas Day attack close to an Afghan intelligence organisation compound in the town which become additionally claimed by means of Isis. On 18 December militants from the group stormed an intelligence training compound in Kabul triggering an extreme gunfight with police of whom were wounded. Its goals of a caliphate are long gone. Now Isis has a lethal new method Hassan Hassan Read greater Security in Kabul has been ramped up considering that 31 May whilst a truck bomb ripped thru the diplomatic quarter killing a hundred and fifty human beings and wounding around 400 others by and large civilians. No group has but claimed that assault. Despite the multiplied security features militants continue to carry out attacks. On Wednesday Afghanistan s undercover agent company introduced it had busted a 13-member Isis cell in Kabul that were planning to perform a chain of massive terrorist attacks within the city. The Middle Eastern jihadist institution has gained ground in Afghanistan since it first seemed within the area in 2015 and has scaled up its assaults in Kabul together with on safety installations and the united states s Shia minority. Topics Afghanistan South and Central Asia Islamic State Taliban information Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share thru Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content