Four gunmen killed in attack on luxury Kabul hotel

Four gunmen killed in attack on luxury Kabul hotel

Four teenage Taliban gunmen opened fire inside a luxury hotel in Kabul on Thursday before being shot dead, officials said, adding that three people were wounded as guests rushed to reinforced safe rooms.

An Afghan policeman stands near the security perimeter of the Serena hotel in Kabul late on March 20, 2014

Just weeks before Afghanistan's presidential election, the attackers hid small pistols in their socks and penetrated several layers of security at the Serena hotel, a prestigious venue favoured by foreign visitors to the Afghan capital.

"I heard some gunshots, and we all were taken by guards to the safe rooms," a front-desk clerk told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban, who have vowed a campaign of violence to disrupt the election on April 5, claimed responsibility for the attack.

No guests were reported to have been injured as intense bursts of gunfire erupted inside the hotel and security forces rushed to the scene.

"The four young attackers entered the hotel at about 6:00 pm pretending to be guests and started to attack at 9:00 pm," Sediq Sediqqi, the interior ministry spokesman, told reporters, adding the gunmen were all under 18 years old.

"Two guards have been taken to hospital, as well as one foreign employee of the hotel. All four attackers were gunned down, two of them after they resisted in a bathroom in the hotel."

Jane Ferguson, an Al Jazeera television journalist staying at the hotel, said on Twitter she had "just got out of Serena hotel safe. Horrible few hours with furniture against my door."

The attack occurred on the eve of Nawroz, the Persian New Year which is a major holiday in Afghanistan, and the hotel was hosting special celebrations.

The Serena, the most upmarket accommodation in Kabul, has been targeted by militants in the past, including a Taliban suicide attack in 2008 that left eight people dead.

- Hotel favoured by foreigners -

By upgrading its security, it has continued to attract diplomats, foreign workers and Afghan businessmen to its two restaurants, coffee shop and a gym complete with outdoor pool kept heated through the harsh winter.

The Serena attack on Thursday came on the same day that seven Taliban suicide attackers stormed a police station in the eastern city of Jalalabad killing 10 policemen.

The target of the three-hour truck bomb and gun assault was a police station near the provincial governor's house.

Taliban leaders earlier this month urging their fighters to attack polling staff, officials, voters and security forces before the election to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai.

On Tuesday a suicide bomber killed 16 people at a crowded market in the northern province of Faryab. There was no claim of responsibility for that attack.

Previous Afghan elections also have been badly marred by violence as the Islamist militants display their opposition to the US-backed polls.

Another bloodstained election would damage claims by international donors that the expensive military and civilian intervention in Afghanistan since 2001 has made progress in establishing a functioning state system.

US-led NATO combat troops are withdrawing from the country after 13 years of fighting a fierce Islamist insurgency, which erupted when the Taliban were ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

Relations between Karzai and the US have been severely strained over the president's decision not to sign an agreed deal for a small US force to remain in Afghanistan from 2015 on counter-terrorism and training operations.

Another point of friction has been the release of Afghan prisoners that the US believes are dangerous militants.

On Thursday, 55 more prisoners were freed in a move that drew complaints from the NATO mission, which said the men had not been processed through the Afghan judicial system.

"Insurgents in this group of detainees have caused casualties amongst coalition and Afghan forces," the NATO mission said in a statement.

The election front-runners are Abdullah Abdullah, who came second in 2009, former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul and former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.

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