Insurgents storm Kabul’s largest hotel, kill at least 5

KABUL — Gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul during a siege that continued into Sunday morning, leaving at least five Afghan civilians dead, officials said.

Six other civilians were reported wounded, and more than 100 people, including 16 foreigners, were rescued from Kabul’s largest hotel, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

The bodies of four attackers were recovered as security forces continued to clear the landmark building, he said.

“The security forces are going room by room to make sure that there is no any other attacker in the building,” he said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which started around 9 p.m. Saturday. As the fighting raged, a fire erupted in the building.

“Our special forces are entering the building,” said Gen. Afzal Aman, commander of the Kabul Garrison, an elite unit of police and soldiers that is responsible for security in the capital, who was reached earlier by cell phone at the scene.

“The attackers are at one side of the building. There are guests trapped in their rooms. We do not know who are the attackers. There could be two or three of them.”

Other officials said that the hotel was believed to be full of guests. It generally hosts mostly visiting Afghan government employees and official guests and is often full.

Shahzad Aryobee, minister of telecommunications, said 105 employees of his agency were among those trapped inside the hotel.

“I’m here at the scene,” he said, “but the police won’t let us go inside.”

This is not the first time the popular hotel has been the target of an attack. The Intercontinental Hotel was attacked by insurgents in 2011; 21 people were killed and many others wounded before Afghan authorities, with substantial assistance from international military forces, managed to bring the attack to an end.

Wahid Majrooh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said ambulances were at the scene but of the hotel compound, which is on top of a steep hill.

The hotel was once part of the chain of Intercontinental Hotels but is now government owned.