Militants storm top hotel in Afghan capital

FILE – The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 25, 2016. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

ISLAMABAD — At least four gunmen attacked a hotel in Kabul late Saturday, and reports said two of the gunmen were killed and at least six other people were wounded.

Officials said Afghan commandos surrounded the Intercontinental Hotel. Witnesses earlier reported hearing gunfire from inside the building.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attack.

The luxury hotel sits at the top of a Kabul hill and is heavily guarded because it has come under attack previously.

The Taliban, particularly its allied Haqqani network, is known for staging such coordinated attacks in the city, but the insurgent group had not yet said whether it was behind this violence.

Islamic State militants have taken responsibility for some recent suicide bombings in Kabul. The latest IS-plotted attack, which took place late last month, left more than 40 people dead and about 100 others wounded. The victims were mostly members of the Afghan minority Shiite community.

Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel was also the target of a suicide assault in 2011 that killed at least 20 people. The Taliban took responsibility for that attack. | via Voice of America

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