Afghanistan’s security forces killed attackers foiling an attempt to terrorize foreign nationals in Kabul on Monday.
Responding promptly to a terrorist attack in a hotel situated in the heart of Kabul’s new district, Commandoes of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan killed the three attackers and arrested one of them. The identity of the attackers has not been revealed yet, however, an intensive investigation has been launched.
The hotel which came under attack on Monday is situated in the heart of Kabul’s new district and is considered a hot spot for foreigners especially Chinese businessmen.
Sources said, all the guests present in the hotel at the time of the attack, were saved while a few who had jumped from the windows, received minor injuries.
Zabiullah Mujahid, the Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan condemned the attack and confirmed that all the attackers were killed in a commando operation.
“All the guests of the hotel have been rescued and no foreigner was killed. Only two foreign guests were injured when they threw themselves from an upper storey,” chief Zabiullah Mujahid announced on Twitter.
Earlier, International media suggested at least three people were killed when gunmen attacked a hotel popular with Chinese business people in the Afghan capital Monday, with witnesses reporting multiple blasts and several bursts of gunfire.
Later on, Kabul police authorities identified those who were killed, as the attackers.
Plumes of smoke were seen pouring from the multi-storey Kabul Longan Hotel as Taliban security forces rushed to the site and sealed off the neighbourhood.
Soon after taking hold of Afghanistan, the Taliban improved security across Afghanistan. However, a number of attacks in Kabul have challenged the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan.
Western media reports quoted sources from Italian non-governmental organisation Emergency NGO, which operates a hospital just one kilometre from the blast site, as saying it had received 21 casualties, including three people dead on arrival.
It did not say if those dead were civilians or involved in the attack.
A Kabul police spokesman said three attackers were killed and one suspect arrested, blaming the assault on “mischievous elements”.
“All the guests of the hotel have been rescued and no foreigner was killed. Only two foreign guests were injured when they threw themselves from an upper storey,” chief Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid added on Twitter.
Earlier in September, two members of a Russian mission in Kabul were killed in a suicide bombing outside the mission. IS had claimed the attack.
The group also claimed responsibility for an attack on Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul this month that Islamabad decried as an “assassination attempt” against the ambassador.
A security guard was wounded in that attack.
Despite owning the rights to major projects in Afghanistan, notably the Mes Aynak copper mine, China has not pushed any of these projects forward.
The Taliban are reliant on China to turn one of the world’s largest copper deposits into a working mine that would help the cash-strapped and sanctions-hit nation recover.
