KABUL — A standoff at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul ended early Wednesday after some five hours of violence which saw as many as half a dozen suicide bombers storming the building and setting off explosions amid heavy gunfire.
Two NATO helicopters circling the luxury hotel identified three insurgents on the rooftop and an exchange of fire took place, FOX News Channel reported, citing International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Tim James.
Explosions were seen on the roof and the trio were killed. All three insurgents were wearing suicide vests and it was not immediately clear if they were killed by their vests or by gunfire from the helicopters.
An interior ministry spokesman told AFP that six suicide bombers in total had been killed by security forces.
“The operation has just ended, all of them [the attackers] have been killed,” Siddiq Siddiqi said. “We believe at this stage it was six suicide bombers.”
Siddiqi said another seven people — all Afghans – were also killed and eight others were wounded. In the chaos that ensued during the standoff, one officer at the scene suggested at least ten police had been killed.
Ambulances were being sent to the hotel to ferry away any dead and wounded, Siddiqi said, adding that the toll could rise.
According to Kabul criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zahir, one suicide attacker had blown himself up and “a number” of police had been wounded.
Taliban militants — armed with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and suicide vests — occupied the Intercontinental Tuesday night, sparking a battle with security forces trying to take back the building. Panicked guests were told to stay in their rooms.
During the assault, 10 to 15 armored vehicles carrying Afghan National Army commandos were seen entering the hotel compound.
Witness Sayed Hussain said he was inside the compound when the incident started.
“I saw five to six men in civilian clothing armed with rifles who started shooting when they entered,” he said. “I lay down on the ground and soon after the police arrived.”
He said that police and the attackers then exchanged fire for about 10 to 15 minutes before he heard a loud explosion.
Another man, who did not want to give his name, said he had been at the Intercontinental intending to have dinner with friends when he heard gunshots and lay down in a muddy ditch to hide.
An Afghan guard was then shot nearby and fell on top of him, he said.
The attack on the hotel, which is popular with foreigners, was bound to be viewed as a dramatic sign of the Taliban’s strength just days after President Barack Obama announced plans for the start of the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan, where they have been fighting for a decade in America’s longest war, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Insurgents took up positions in upper floors of the hotel, located in one of Kabul’s tallest buildings, setting up snipers to fire on police and intelligence officers who rushed to the scene to contain the fighting.
The attack came as other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries also are departing Afghanistan in what is supposed to be a years-long process of handing over responsibility for security to Afghans.
The capital had been relatively calm for some time, with much of the recent Taliban activity focused on the insurgents’ heartland in Kandahar in the south. Hotels and guest houses popular with foreigners have been Taliban targets in the past — the Serena hotel, another luxury property, was attacked by Taliban militants in both 2008 and 2010.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack which took place as the International Contact Group held extensive meetings in Kabul. The group brings together about 50 countries to meet on Afghanistan, including the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman. Grossman had given a press conference in Kabul just hours before the attack.
State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside said Grossman and other members of his delegation departed Kabul earlier Tuesday and were en route to Washington.
“All chief of mission personnel are accounted for … No one from the delegation was there and have departed [Kabul],” said an official from the US Embassy in Kabul. “We do not have information of private American citizens but are investigating.”
The EU Embassy in Kabul could not be reached for comment on whether any of their delegates were staying at the hotel.
The Taliban said 50 foreigners and Afghans had been killed. The insurgents tend to exaggerate the casualties their attacks inflict.
“The United States strongly condemns the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which once again demonstrates the terrorists’ complete disregard for human life,” the US State Department said in a statement.
“We extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this attack,” it said.