Heavy casualties after overnight battle at Kabul hotel

T TV Monday 22/January/2018 13:05 PM
By: Times News Service

Gunmen in army uniforms who stormed Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel late on Saturday and battled Afghan Special Forces through the night killed more than 30 people and wounded many more, although the final toll of dead and wounded may still be higher.
The death toll from a hotel shootout in Kabul jumped from 5 to 30 on Monday, January 22 and Afghan officials say the final number may be even higher.
The battle lasted through the night as special forces traded shots with gunmen in army uniforms who had stormed the Intercontinental late Saturday, January 20.
The dead include hotel staff, guests and security forces. Six of them have been identified as foreigners and local media say some may have been Venezuelan and Ukrainian. All five of the attackers were killed. Scores of the injured are now fighting for their lives in the hospital.
More than 150 guests were able to escape as parts of the building caught fire early Sunday, January 21. Some climbing down from the upper levels with tied sheets.
It's the latest in a series of attacks on the Afghan capital, aimed at undermining the confidence in the Western-backed government.
A statement from the interior ministry put the blame on the Haqqani network, a group affiliated with the Taliban.