Four heavily armed terrorist sneaks in star Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul; 5 including one foreigner killed

Kabul, January 21: At least five innocent people including one foreigner was killed while six others were injured after four heavily armed terrorists stormed into the five-star Intercontinental Hotel with indiscriminate firing in the Afghanistan capital on Saturday hotel.

 

Notably, as many as four heavily armed terrorists with guns and hand grenades stormed into the five-star Intercontinental Hotel with the opening fire and took hundreds of people hostage. After the attack, Taliban claimed the responsibility.

However, 153 people including 41 foreigners were rescued after all the gunmen were later killed by Afghan Special Forces in a 12-hour gun battle. According to the sources, the gunmen entered the hotel through a kitchen and people tried to get out amid bursts of gunfire and later attackers took some hotel staff and guests hostage.

Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said that the attack is over now. He said four gunmen had stormed into the hotel opening fire and taking dozens of people hostage. Another official said around 150 people were rescued, including more than 40 foreigners.

Importantly, the 12-hour gun battle came days after a US embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the city. The Intercontinental Hotel was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011 when 21 people were killed, including 10 civilians.

Interestingly, over 100 IT managers and engineers were at the Intercontinental Hotel ahead of a conference when Saturday's attack took place. A conference on Afghanistan-China relations was held at the hotel earlier in the day, attended by the Chinese embassy's political counsellor Zhang Zhixin.