KABUL: Afghan Special Forces ended an overnight siege at Kabul’sIntercontinental Hotel on Sunday, killing the last gunman from a group ofthree attackers who stormed the hotel, taking hostages and battlingsecurity forces for hours.

Two gunmen were killed on Saturday night. It was initially reported thatfour gunmen had attacked the hotel.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said at least five other peoplehad been killed and six wounded, a lower casualty total than earlierfeared, while 153 people, including 41 foreigners had been evacuated.

As day broke on Sunday, thick clouds of black smoke could be seen pouringfrom the building. Several armored U.S. military vehicles with heavymachine guns could seen close to the hotel along with Afghan police units.

Television pictures also showed Afghan Special Forces personnel maneuveringon the roof of the hotel.

Officials said two attackers had been killed and one or two others werebelieved to be still resisting.

Najib Danish said at least five people had been killed and six wounded inthe raid, which came days after a U.S. embassy warning of possible attackson hotels in Kabul.

Danish said 16 foreigners had been rescued but it was not clear what theirnationality was.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest in a longseries of attacks which have underlined the city’s precarious situation andthe ability of militants to mount high profile operations aimed atundermining confidence in the Western-backed government.

Hotel manager Ahmad Haris Nayab, who escaped unhurt, said the attackers hadgot into the main part of the hotel through a kitchen before going throughthe hotel.

According to one witness, who did not want to be named, the attackers tookhotel staff and guests hostage.

The Intercontinental Hotel, an imposing 1960s structure set on a hilltopand heavily protected like most public buildings in Kabul, was previouslyattacked by Taliban fighters in 2011.

It is one of two main luxury hotels in the city and had been due to host aninformation technology conference on Sunday. More than 100 IT managers andengineers were on site when the attack took place, Ahmad Waheed, anofficial at the telecommunications ministry, said.

U.S. WARNING

The attack came days after a United Nations Security Council visit to Kabulto allow senior representatives of member states to assess the situation inAfghanistan.

Many details of the incident were still unclear, but Danish said a privatecompany had taken over security of the hotel about three weeks ago.

The State Department said on Saturday it was monitoring the situation andwas in contact with Afghan authorities to determine whether any U.S.citizens had been affected.

Captain Tom Gresback, spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support missionin Afghanistan, said they were also watching closely but it was not clearwhat role international forces were taking in suppressing the attack.

“Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are leading the responseefforts. According to initial reports, no Resolute Support or (U.S. forces)members were injured in this incident,” he said in an emailed statement.

Although Resolute Support says the Taliban has come under pressure afterthe United States increased assistance to Afghan security forces andstepped up air strikes against insurgents, security remains precarious.

As pressure on the battlefield has increased, security officials havewarned that the danger of attacks on high-profile targets in Kabul andother cities would increase.

After repeated attacks in Kabul, notably an incident last May in which atruck bomber killed at least 150 people outside the German embassy,security has been further tightened.

While it shares the same name, the hotel in Kabul is not part ofInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), which issued a statement in 2011saying that “the hotel Inter-continental in Kabul is not part of IHG andhas not been since 1980”.