The popular Intercontinental hotel in Kabul has come under a suicide bombing attack Tuesday. At least one suicide bomber blew himself up late Tuesday night inside a Western-style hotel in Kabul. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
The popular Intercontinental hotel in Kabul has come under a suicide bombing attack Tuesday, a U.S. official told Fox News. The attack is still ongoing.
Afghanistan news agency TOLOnews is reporting at least 10 people have been killed. That number has yet to be independently confirmed.
Up to six suicide bombers are believed to have attacked the hotel, Afghan police tell Fox News. Multiple explosions have been heard at the hotel.
Streets leading to the Intercontinental hotel are blocked.
“It’s an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel. There are several gunmen shooting,” Kabul criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zahir told AFP.
He said “a number” of police had been wounded.
Azizullah, an Afghan police officer who uses only one name, told The Associated Press at the scene that at least one bomber entered the hotel Tuesday night and detonated a vest of explosives.
Jawid, a guest at the hotel, says the attack occurred as many people were having dinner in the hotel restaurant. He says he heard gunfire throughout the several story building.
“I was running with my family,” he said. “There was shooting. The restaurant was full with guests.”
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press.
Attacks in the Afghan capital have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the May 2 killing of Usama bin Laden in a U.S. raid in Pakistan and the start of the Taliban’s annual spring offensive.
On June 18, insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms stormed a police station near the presidential palace and opened fire on officers, killing nine.
Late last month, a suicide bomber wearing an Afghan police uniform infiltrated the main Afghan military hospital, killing six medical students. A month before that, a suicide attacker in an army uniform sneaked past security at the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing three people.
