Fatalities confirmed as Kabul hotel siege drama ‘ends’

A militant attack on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital of Kabul has ended, leaving eighteen people dead, among them 14 foreigners, according to Afghan officials.

At least four assailants raided the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul at about 21:00 local time (16:30 GMT) on Saturday, detonating explosives, taking people hostage, and shooting at individuals as some terrified guests and employees used bedsheets to climb down balconies to escape.

Images broadcast by local television showed thick smoke billowing from the building.

“The attack is over,” Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said on Sunday. He said security forces had killed four attackers.

Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP that four Afghans and 14 foreigner were killed, adding that around 150 people were rescued, including more than 40 foreigners.

“Fourteen foreigners were killed and four Afghans,” Danish told Afghanistan’s Tolo News, without specifying the nationalities involved.

Ukrainian officials have announced that six Ukrainian were among the dead.

Special forces, including the Crisis Response Unit as well as foreign troops based in Afghanistan, were called in to end the siege at the high-end hotel, which is frequented by foreigners.

A 12-hour fight ensued.

The Taliban militant group later claimed responsibility for the siege on the hotel, where foreigners were attending an information technology conference.

A spokesman for the group claims that the militants “killed tens of foreign invaders and their puppets.”

The Intercontinental Hotel was attacked by the Taliban in June 2011, when a bombing killed 21 people, including 10 civilians.

The Daesh terrorist group is also present in Afghanistan.