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In Afghanistan, Taliban carry out two attacks, raiding hotel, police station, killing at least 19 Attack on luxury hotel in Kabul kills 9 civilians
(about 4 hours later)
KABUL — KABUL — Afghanistan on Friday acknowledged that an overnight attack by Taliban insurgents on a high-profile luxury hotel near the presidential palace in Kabul has claimed the lives of nine civilians, including four expatriates.
The authorities had initially said that four teenage gunmen had been killed in the attack, and it took at least seven hours for them to acknowledge that the toll also included the nine civilians. The late-evening raid on the Serena Hotel, largely used by visiting foreign dignitaries and diplomats, highlighted the militants’ ability to penetrate and conduct strikes in areas such as this one, regarded as the most secure oasis in Kabul.
Taliban insurgents exchanged gunfire with security forces inside a posh hotel near the presidential palace in the Afghan capital Thursday, killing nine civilians, just hours after militants killed 10 police officers in a brazen attack farther east. The attack on the Serena has sent shockwaves among many Afghans and expatriates. It follows an assault earlier this year that killed 21 guests, 13 of them foreigners, in a Lebanese restaurant in Kabul’s diplomatic enclave.
Thursday’s attacks came on a day when 77 suspected Taliban fighters captured by Western forces were released from prison. In the Serena attack, Afghan officials said they were stunned as to how the four assailants managed to get their weapons, hidden in their shoes past a gantlet that includes three separate lines of hotel security, including body searches and X-ray machines. Afghan authorities said they were investigating to determine whether hotel guards had any hand in the attack
On Friday as Afghans were marking beginning of near traditional year, explosives, hidden in a fruit box, went off in an area of southern Kandahar, wounding a number of people, including its deputy governor, officials said. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in an e-mail that his group was behind the attack. The Taliban had information that nationals of “occupying countries,” as well as Afghan government officials and some “corrupt” lawmakers, were at the hotel to celebrate the Afghan new year, he said.
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Seddiqi said the strikes were part of an effort to sabotage the April 5 presidential elections, which the Taliban have vowed to derail. In a statement released by the presidential palace, President Hamid Karzai said that “this admissible and inhumane act is the work of the enemies of the Afghan people who do not want security and lasting stability in our country.’’
He said authorities were checking to see if the increase in raids has any links with a truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad and the closure of religious schools across the border, long used as stronghold for the militants. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said the attack on the hotel, following so soon after the attack on a restaurant and the killing last week of a foreign journalists, represented a “new trend.” He said the strikes were part of an effort to sabotage the April 5 presidential elections, which the Taliban have vowed to derail.
Seddiqi said four teenagers armed with pistols and disguised as guests entered the Serena Hotel on Thursday. Seddiqi said the attackers had entered the Serena disguised as guests, then later opened fire on diners at the hotel restaurant.
Hours later, when hotel guests were having dinner, the gunmen opened fire, Seddiqi said. Hotel guards and Afghan security forces rushed the guests to a safe room, but nine guests as well as the assailants were killed in the overnight exchange of fire. Five Afghans also were killed, Seddiqi said Friday. The slain civilians included four foreigners, including a Canadian woman and another from New Zealand and a Pakistani and an Indian man.The Afghan victims included Sardar Ahmand, a journalist for Agence France-Presse, along with his wife and two children, Ahmad’s brother Turaj said by telephone.
The slain civilians included four foreigners; a woman from Canada, a woman from New Zealand, a man from Pakistan and a second man from India. Another six people, including a lawmaker, were wounded, a police officer said. The U.S. Embassy said there were no reports of any casualties among its staff.
Among the Afghan victims were Agence France Presse local journalist Sardar Ahmad, his wife and two of their children, his brother Turaj said by phone. “His other kid is seriously wounded and is in coma,” he said. The Serena was also the target of a 2008 attack that killed hotel guests, but security has since been beefed up. The hotel is protected by private guards, not the Afghan government.
“They have shown their brutality once again with this attack,” Seddiqi said. Afghans have been gathering to mark the beginning of the traditional New Year. On Friday, a number of Afghans, including a deputy governor and a top aide, were wounded in an explosion in the southern city of Kandahar, where the devices had apparently been hidden in a box of fruit.
Six people, including a lawmaker, were wounded, a police officer said. The U.S. embassy said there were no reports of any casualties among its staff. The Thursday night attack on Serena came hours after a brazen raid by a group of Taliban militants killed 10 police on a police station in the east of the country.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in an e-mail that his group was behind the attack. The Taliban had information that nationals of “occupying countries,” as well as Afghan government officials and some “corrupt” law­makers, were at the hotel to celebrate the Afghan new year, he said. With Karzai preparing to step down, the upcoming presidential vote is seen as a key point in the nation’s history, because it could result in the first peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan.
The assailants managed to get their weapons past tight hotel security, including body searches and X-ray machines. Afghan authorities on Thursday released from prison 77 suspected Taliban fighters captured by Western forces. The freeing of the prisoners came a month after the release of 65 inmates from a Bagram detention center, which drew stern criticism from United States and NATO, which considered the detainees dangerous.
Security at the hotel was beefed up after a Taliban suicide attack in 2008 killed seven people.
The security of the hotel was provided by a private security firm and police were investigating to see if the guards had any hand in the attack, Sediqqi said.
“It is a big question for us that how the attackers despite the tight security measures, managed to take pistols in,” he said.
The attack has sent shockwaves among many Afghans and expatriates and comes weeks after 21 guests, 13 of them foreigners, were killed in a complex attack on a Lebanese restaurant in Kabul’s diplomatic enclave.
Sediqqi said the two attacks on places catering to expatriates represented a “new trend”.
Earlier Thursday, Taliban militants raided a police station in the city of Jalalabad, killing 10 officers. Seven of the assailants were either fatally shot during the clash or were killed by explosives they carried.
The predawn attack began when a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle at the entrance of the police station, located close to key government buildings, including the governor’s office. This allowed six other militants to make their way inside the police base, officials said.
In addition to the 10 police officers and seven attackers, another person was killed and 14 were injured, authorities say.
The attacks came as Afghanistan plans to hold its presidential election on April 5. The vote is seen as a key point in the nation’s history, because it could result in the first peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan.
The attacks came on a day that 77 suspected Taliban detainees captured by NATO-led forces were released.
The releases come a month after the release of 65 inmates from a Bagram detention center, which drew stern criticism from United States and NATO, which considered the detainees dangerous.
NATO and the U.S. military had no comment on the latest release.NATO and the U.S. military had no comment on the latest release.