KABUL – The attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan capitalKabul has left at least 18 people dead and over 100 have been seriouslywounded in the attack claimed by the Afghan Taliban.
The operation lasted over 17 hours and many of the law enforcement agenciessoldiers have also been hit.
As Taliban attackers went on an overnight rampage through theIntercontinental Hotel in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday, twohotel staffers who sustained injuries in the attack, described theterrifying attack at the heavily-guarded luxury hotel.
Two of the attackers started deliberately shooting the guests after the hadfinished their dinner, the staff members said.
Some desperate guests also tried to escape bullets and later a fire byjumping off balconies.
Survivors slammed security forces and said the rescue effort had beenextremely poor especially as wounded victims lay for hours without anymedical assistance.
Haseeb, 20, who started work at the hotel four months ago, said two of theassailants had been dressed in stylish civilian clothes and asked him toserve them food after entering the restaurant.
He said the attackers then deliberately opened fir on the people with AK-47rifles after eating their food.
Haseeb said he, and eleven of his colleagues, then ran into a room on thefifth floor of the hotel to hide.
According to him, the attackers went through the hotel room-by-room lookingfor people and randomly shooting them.
“They (attackers) were wearing very stylish clothes,” Haseeb said. “Theycame to me and asked for food. I served them the food and they (attackers)thanked me and took their seats. Then they took out their weapons andstarted shooting the people.”
“There were dozens of dead bodies lying around me. I was one of thefew people alive there, but one wounded person asked me for help and I tookhim out,” added Haseeb.
Mohmmad Musa Kamal, head of Nuristan telecommunication department, who wasstaying at the hotel ahead of a scheduled conference on Sunday, alsosustained injuries in the attack. Kamal jumped from the second floor of thehotel and lay on the ground for hours before help arrived.
“I was creeping towards the elevator when I heard the attackers saying hitthem one by one, hit them one by one! We rushed towards the rooms, whoeverwere tying to move towards the elevators, the attackers were killing them,”said Kamal.
Farid, another wounded survivor, said he can only remember his name andnothing about the attack due to head injuries caused in the attack.
Norullah is another civilian who sustained serious wounds in the attack.His legs and teeth have been broken and his family has no information abouthim.
“The wounded are now in a stable condition. We have operated on them,” saidone doctor at a Kabul hospital.
According to eye witnesses, dozens of people were killed in the attack onthe hotel.
At least 400 civilians have lost their lives as a result of suicide attacksand explosions and hundreds more wounded in the past three months,officials stated recently.
The attack by the Taliban on the Intercontinental Hotel comes amidintensifying violence around the country. In the northern province ofBalkh, at least 18 people were killed in an attack by the Taliban lateSaturday, most of them members of the local police force, local officialsthere said.
Sarajuddin Abid, the district governor of Sholgara, said the incidenthappened Saturday night when a group of Taliban militants attacked a partyin Buzboi village in the district where they shot dead eighteen people.
As well as in the west, at least eight civilians were killed in a roadsidemine in Gulran district of the provinces. Victims were reportedly on theirway to Iran.