Calgary woman among hotel victims.
Former Edmonton nursing student a victim of shooting in Kabul
— When Karim-Aly Kassam got the phone call that no one ever wants to get, he had to find the facts for himself.
The professor of environmental and indigenous studies at Cornell University had been told there was a bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, and that his sister, 57-year-old Zeenab Kassam of Calgary, was among the victims.
With research teams on the ground in Afghanistan, the professor called on his contacts to find out what had happened, hoping they would tell him there’d been some mistake.
“It couldn’t be true,” he told Postmedia News on Friday. “They said that and I said that ‘somebody’s made a mistake.’ And then they confirmed. They called people on the ground who saw it, and saw her.”
In the end it wasn’t a bombing, but a shooting spree by four armed Taliban militants that took the lives of volunteer English teacher Kassam, and eight other people, including Vancouver optometrist Roshan Thomas late Thursday. The two Canadians were said to be dining together in the luxury Serena Hotel in the heart of Kabul, the country’s only five-star lodging and a place known for its tight security.
Speaking at his sister’s home on Friday, Kassam said the news of her death had left the family devastated.
“Did they do it quickly, so she didn’t suffer? Did they prolong it? Did somebody hold her hand in those last moments? That’s what I’d like to know,” he said.
Adding to the pain, the family had yet to receive confirmation as of Friday that Kassam’s body had been claimed by Canadian representatives for repatriation.
“We need her back here,” her brother said.
He said the family would not be releasing a photo of Kassam or the name of the non-governmental organization she had been working with, fearing publicity may jeopardize the return of her remains.
Zeenab Kassam had been in Afghanistan for a year and a half teaching English to young Afghanis, one of many stints working and volunteering throughout her life, her brother said.
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kassam moved to Calgary in her early teens with her family and they soon became involved with the local Ismaili community.
Both siblings graduated from Viscount Bennett High School before Zeenab went on to study nursing in Edmonton, receiving her diploma through a program at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and later working at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.
Karim-Aly Kassam said his sister volunteered and worked as a nurse abroad at many points in her career, including a time spent in Kenya, but also volunteered around the city. This last trip was her first to Afghanistan, where she taught English with the hope of fostering better communication and cultural understanding in the region.
“That’s what her work was about,” he said. “It was not about anger or fear or belligerence.”
The family is determined not to feel anger toward the Afghan people or the Taliban, the brother said. “There is no malice in our heads, only devastation and shock. We are against anger, we are for understanding.”
Along with her brother, Zeenab Kassam leaves behind an elderly mother.
Walking through the heavily guarded gates of the Serena Hotel in Kabul, I felt I was entering a portal to another world.
On one side, the dust, grime and stifling poverty of Afghanistan. On the other, the opulence of a five-star western hotel.
Wealthy business people, diplomats and consultants come to the Serena to mingle or have dinner at one of its two restaurants. Those who need to unwind can take advantage of its spa, with its gymnasium, steam room, sauna and swimming pool.
The 177-room hotel bills itself as an “oasis of serenity” equipped with “worldclass security measures and procedures.”
That’s not an exaggeration. With the exception of military bases and government offices in the capital, the Serena Hotel’s security is among the most extensive in Afghanistan.
Yet four Taliban gunmen were able to breach that Thursday night and kill nine people, including two Canadians. Those gunned down were attending a celebration of Nowruz, the Afghan and Persian new year marking the spring equinox.
I’ve never stayed at the Serena because I couldn’t afford it. But I’ve been there on a number of occasions, the last time in December, to conduct interviews.
The hotel was built by the Aga Khan as part of that religious leader’s commitment to helping rebuild Afghanistan. It is designed to attract members of the international community, with its high standards and safe environment, Nurjehan Mawani, the diplomatic representative of the Aga Khan Development Network in Afghanistan, told me as we toured the facility.
The hotel wasn’t yet making money, partially because of the high security costs. “The intention was that it would become self-sustaining,” Mawani explained. “We expect it will take time.”
Afghan officials have said the four gunmen entered the hotel around 6 p.m. local time, claiming they were there for dinner. They then made their way to a bathroom and hid for three hours. Shortly after 9 p.m., when most of the guests had arrived for the new year celebration, the men emerged from their hiding place and opened fire.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sidiq Siddiqi said they had hidden their pistols in their socks. Other reports say the guns were hidden in their shoes. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement the men “managed to get into the Serena Hotel from the back door.”
Whatever the case, the attack is a significant breach of security and a propaganda coup for the insurgents.
It’s not the first time this hotel has been attacked. In January 2008, two gunmen made their way into the hotel and opened fire on guests and staff. Six people were killed. At the time, the hotel had security guards and a steel gated compound in front of the main entrance.
That attack resulted in the installation of the fortress perimeter that now surrounds the Serena. Thick concrete blast walls and other barriers were installed, along with multiple guard posts.
Initial entry is through the reinforced metal door, located on the outer perimeter. During my visit, heavily armed guards frisked me, thoroughly searched my camera bag and checked my identification.
After that checkpoint, I walked a couple of metres to another steel wall and through the door there, once again scrutinized by guards.
From there I was sent into a separate room, where my bag was X-rayed and I walked through an airport-style metal detector.
The fact four young Afghan men could move through the hotel and later hide in the washroom for three hours without attracting attention is unfathomable. Reports they were able to hide their pistols in their “socks” are equally bizarre.
The Serena killings come just two months after an attack on Kabul’s La Taverna du Liban restaurant, a popular destination for affluent foreigners, consultants and diplomats. Martin Glazer, 43, of Gatineau, Que., and Peter McSheffrey, 49, of Ottawa, were among the 21 people killed.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accurately assessed the situation: “This attack shows that our people, if they decide to attack any place, they can do it.”