‘Foreigners targeted’ in Afghanistan hotel attack

TALIBAN militants who killed at least 22 people at a luxury Kabul hotel went from room to room searching for foreigners, survivors said yesterday as more details of the victims emerged.

Insurgents armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel overlooking the Afghan capital late Saturday in an assault that lasted over 12 hours and prompted questions over how the attackers breached security.

Guests hid behind pillars and in rooms as gunmen sprayed bullets and set fire to parts of the six-storey building. Some people climbed over balconies, using bed sheets in a desperate attempt to escape.

“They were saying kill the foreigners,” a 20-year-old hotel employee who gave his name as Hasibullah said from his hospital bed. He described hiding in a fifth-floor room and listening as the gunmen went room to room, forcing doors open “with daggers” and killing those inside.

One other witness claimed he had seen the militants beheading guests.

The attack ended on Sunday with all six militants killed by Afghan forces, aided by Norwegian troops. Afghan health ministry spokesmanWaheed Majroh said 22 bodies had now been taken to Kabul hospitals.

At least seven Ukrainian citizens were among the dead, the countr y’s ambassador to Tajikistan and AfghanistanViktor Nikitiuk said. “A lot of Ukrainian aviation technicians work in Afghanistan. All the dead were working for the airline Kam Air and living at the Intercontinental Hotel,” he said.

Kam Air, an Afghan carrier, said at least nine of its personnel had been killed in the assault, but said it would not reveal their nationalities without more official information.

One Kazakh citizen was also killed, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Anuar Zhainakov confirmed.

Afghan officials said that senior Afghan diplomat Abdullah Poyan was killed along with Mufti Ahmad Farzan, a member of the High Peace Council responsible for reconciliation efforts with militants.

Authorities warned they were still investigating how militants breached security, which was taken over by a private company three weeks ago. Witnesses said the private security fled the scene as the attack unfolded.

On Sunday an Interior Ministry spokesman suggested there was evidence some of the attackers had already been inside the building. But it was too early to say if they had inside help.

The attack followed security warnings in recent days to avoid hotels and locations frequented by foreigners in Kabul.