Gunmen attack Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, take hostages

A group of as many as four gunmen attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday night, seizing hostages and exchanging gunfire with security forces as the building caught fire and residents and staff fled.
A group of as many as four gunmen attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday night, seizing hostages and exchanging fire with security forces as the building caught fire and residents and staff fled.
A government official said details of the raid, which came days after a U.S. embassy warning of possible attacks on hotels in the capital, were unclear.
The official said the attackers, who entered through a kitchen, appeared to have included suicide bombers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest in a long series of attacks to hit Kabul.
The hotel, located on a hilltop and heavily protected like most public buildings in the city, was previously attacked by Taliban fighters in 2011.