KABUL – The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Sunday claimed the deadly assaulton the Kabul intercontinental Hotel “was planned by the Haqqani Network.”
The attack that lasted several hours involved four heavily armed attackerswho were killed by the Afghan commando forces and police, the Ministry ofInterior said in a statement.
The assault began at around 7:00pm last night and continued until Sundaynoon.
The interior ministry quoting the spy agency, National Directorate ofSecurity, said the attack was planned by the Haqqani Network.
The security forces rescued 160 guests including 31 foreigners from thehotel. Five people were killed and 10 others wounded in the attack, theministry said.
The Taliban link> have claimedresponsibility for the attack, the second major attack on the hotel since2001.
Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban’s spokesman, in an email said their fivefighters launched the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel at around 10pmon Saturday night.
He claimed several foreign troops and guests suffered casualties in theduring the attack that ended at 11am Sunday.
The Taliban said the hotel was hosting a gathering of Afghan and foreignofficials when it was attacked.
At the time of the attack, officials from 34 provinces had gathered for ameeting organized by the Telecommunications Ministry.