WASHINGTON — Multiple American citizens were killed and injured in theTaliban’s 13-hour siege of an upscale hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, theState Department said Tuesday.
No exact figures were immediately available for either the U.S. fatalitiesor injuries. In total, 22 people were killed in the attack including 14foreigners, Afghan officials have said. Eleven of the 14 foreigners hadbeen previously identified as working for the private Afghan airline KamAir.
“We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those whowere killed and wish for the speedy recovery of those wounded,” the StateDepartment said. “Out of respect for the families of the deceased, we haveno further comment.?”
The American deaths were the latest reminder of the continuing toll paid bythe United States in Afghanistan, where local forces have struggled tofight the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO formally ended their combatmission in 2014.
President Donald Trump has pursued a plan that involves sending thousandsmore U.S. troops to Afghanistan and envisions shifting away from a“time-based” approach to one that more explicitly links U.S. assistance toconcrete results from the Afghan government. Trump’s U.N. envoy, NikkiHaley, said after a recent visit to Afghanistan that Trump’s policy wasworking and that peace talks between the government and the Taliban arecloser than ever before.
The six Taliban militants who stormed Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel onSaturday in suicide vests were looking for foreigners and Afghan officialsto kill. Afghan security forces have said the standoff ended Sunday whenthey killed the last of the militants. More than 150 people were rescued orescaped during the siege, including 41 foreigners. Some hid in bathtubs orunder mattresses as the attackers roamed the hotel’s hallways killingpeople.
It was unclear how seriously the injured Americans were wounded. Inaddition to the Americans killed in the attack, six Ukrainians, twoVenezuelan pilots for KamAir and a citizen of Kazakhstan and a citizen ofGermany were also killed, officials have said.
Word of the American deaths came as Afghan’s interior ministry said aninvestigation is underway to find out how the attackers got into thebuilding so easily. Najib Danish, spokesman for the interior ministry, saidTuesday that security forces also defused a vehicle full of explosives nearthe hotel after the siege ended. – Agencies