Kabul attack: 'At least 30 people killed' as gunmen storm Intercontinental Hotel

An Afghan security personnel stands guard as smoke billows from the Intercontinental Hotel
AFP/Getty Images
Patrick Grafton-Green21 January 2018

At least 30 people including a number of foreigners have reportedly been killed after gunmen in army uniforms stormed a five star hotel in Kabul.

Many more people were injured as five attackers battled Afghan Special Forces through the night at the Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday.

A senior Afghan security official, who asked not be named, told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the death toll was over 30 and might climb higher.

Kabul police told the BBC the dead included nine Ukrainians, one German, one Greek and one Kazakh citizen.

Afghan security personnel on the roof of Intercontinental Hotel after the attack
AP

The death toll included hotel staff and guests as well as members of the security forces who fought the attackers.

Wahid Majroh, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, said that 19 bodies had been brought into city hospitals, with six identified as foreigners.

All five attackers were also killed, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said.

More than 150 guests were able to flee as parts of the building caught fire, with some climbing down sheets tied together and dropped from upper-floor windows and others rescued by Afghan forces.

The Taliban, which attacked the same hotel in 2011, claimed responsibility for the attack, its spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

The Intercontinental is one of two main luxury hotels in Kabul and is used for events including conferences attended by government officials.

On Thursday, the US embassy in Kabul issued a warning to US citizens, saying "We are aware of reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul".

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