Wakil Kohsar—AFP
No hotel guests, staff hurt in Kabul attack that left one policeman dead.
A powerful Taliban truck bomb struck a hotel for foreigners in Kabul on Monday, triggering a seven-hour gun-and-bomb assault that highlighted the deteriorating security situation in a capital still reeling from its deadliest attack for 15 years.
The guests and staff of Northgate hotel were unharmed but one policeman was killed after the bombing—which rattled windows several kilometers away—paved the way for armed insurgents to enter the heavily guarded facility close to Kabul airport.
The compound housing foreign contractors was previously attacked in July 2013. Earlier this month, the Islamic State group claimed twin bombings that left 80 people dead in the Afghan capital, the deadliest attack in the city since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.
“A truck bomb packed with explosives struck the outer wall of the hotel,” said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi. “One policeman lost his life and three others were wounded but none of the hotel staff or guests were hurt. Three Taliban fighters including the truck bomber were killed.”
Afghan commandos set up a tight security cordon around Northgate as erratic grenade explosions and gunfire rocked the area after the attack began around 01:30 a.m. local time. Local TV station Tolo cited a source inside the facility as saying that all the staff and guests, including 11 foreigners, hunkered down in safe rooms all through the night.
It added that NATO special forces had overseen the clearance operation at the Northgate, a luxury enclave which had been fortified with blast walls, watchtowers and sniffer dogs.
Tremors from the massive truck bombing, which was preceded by a power outage, were felt across the city.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons blasted their way into the compound after the truck bomb went off. He claimed that more than 100 “American invaders” were killed and wounded in the assault. The Taliban are routinely known to exaggerate the toll from their attacks.
The assault comes as the Taliban ramp up their annual summer offensive after a brief lull during the holy fasting month of Ramzan, which ended in early July.
A chillingly similar Taliban attack on the compound in July 2013—a truck bomb followed by a gun siege—killed nine people, including four Nepalese.