NATO Helicopter Ends Siege in Kabul Hotel

[Guest guest]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576413991003487976.html

ASIA NEWS

JUNE 29, 2011.

NATO Helicopter Ends Siege in Kabul Hotel

By MARIA ABI-HABIB and ZIA SULTANI

KABUL—A helicopter from the coalition led by the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization fired on and killed three militants on the roof of Kabul's

InterContinental Hotel, ending the nearly six-hour siege by gunmen and suicide

bombers that demonstrated the Taliban's ability to stage dramatic attacks in

Afghanistan's capital.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of the Interior said at least seven

people, including one policeman, were killed in the attack, and eight others

were wounded. The militants had occupied the hotel, which is popular with

foreigners, and made a final stand on the roof, suggesting that the casualty

count could rise substantially. There were also reports of a fire on the hotel's

roof, with witnesses saying the flames had consumed much of the building.

Many of the hotel's guests were provincial government officials who traveled to

Kabul to attend a two-day meeting on transition starting Wednesday. The meeting

will focus on the handover of security responsibilities from the U.S.-led

coalition to Afghan forces by 2014. Many Western officials are doubtful about

the capability of the Afghan forces to secure their own country.

British army Maj. Tim said a helicopter from the U.S.-led coalition in

Afghanistan " circled the hotel and engaged three individuals on the roof, which

resulted in two explosions. Fifteen minutes later, Afghan security forces

managed to get on the roof and then cleared and secured it. "

The attack on the hotel, which is not affiliated with the global hotel chain of

InterContinental Hotels Group, will likely raise questions about President

Barack Obama's announced plans for the start of the drawdown of U.S. troops from

Afghanistan, where they have been fighting for a decade in America's longest

war. The fact that the siege ended because of the involvement of NATO forces

serves as a reminder of how reliant Afghan forces remain on foreign assistance.

The attack also came at the end of a day that had focused on the future of

Afghanistan and the prospect of political reconciliation in a meeting of senior

representatives from Afghanistan, the U.S. and Pakistan.

" We are still looking for more wounded and dead. Most probably they are hotel

employees. Two attackers [were] shot dead while four of them blew themselves

up, " said Sediq Sediqi, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in the early

morning hours in Kabul.

Elias Haidiri, an Afghan living near the hotel, said: " Everything is now quiet.

Helicopters fired at the suicide bombers on the roof of the hotel, causing an

explosion. The hotel is now on fire, police are everywhere and ambulance sirens

are in the air. "

The U.S. and other NATO countries have begun to depart Afghanistan in what is

supposed to be a years-long process of handing over responsibility for security

to Afghans.

The capital had been relatively calm for some time, with much of the recent

Taliban activity focused on the insurgents' heartland in Kandahar in the south.

Hotels and guest houses popular with foreigners have been Taliban targets in the

past: the Serena hotel, another luxury property, was attacked by Taliban

militants in both 2008 and 2010.

The militants occupied the hotel armed with rocket-propelled grenades, small

arms and suicide vests, setting up a battle with security forces trying to take

back the building.

Insurgents took up positions in upper floors of the hotel, located in one of

Kabul's tallest buildings, setting up snipers to fire on police and intelligence

officers who rushed to the scene to contain the fighting. At least 200 police

and intelligence officers had cordoned off the scene.

" At least six bombers have breached the hotel's security, equipped with suicide

vests and weapons, wounding at least three police so far. They've occupied the

hotel building and explosions have been heard, " said Jamshed Totakhil, the

deputy of Kabul police's criminal investigation department, as the firefight

with security forces was under way.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the brazen attack which took place after

a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan. The talk at

those meetings was of the prospect of reconciliation with Pakistan's Foreign

Secretary Salman Bashir saying at a post-meeting press conference: " We are here

to once again reiterate and demonstrate solidarity with the people of

Afghanistan, and particular support and solidarity for the Afghan-led process of

reconciliation and peace. "

U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, attended

that press conference. State Department spokeswoman Reside said Mr.

Grossman and other members of his delegation departed Kabul earlier Tuesday and

are en route to Washington.

" All chief of mission personnel are accounted for....No one from the delegation

was there and have departed (Kabul), " said an official from the U.S. Embassy in

Kabul. " We do not have information of private American citizens but are

investigating. "

President Obama was briefed by a traveling national security aide on the attacks

in Kabul while flying back to Washington from Iowa on Tuesday.

The EU Embassy in Kabul could not be reached for comment on whether any of their

delegates were staying at the hotel.

The country's First Vice President, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, lives near the hotel

and several volleys of bright red rockets could be seen fired in the direction

of his house during the siege while gunfire rang consistently in the air.

" We've tried to flee our home but the police won't let us onto the street, they

are nervous and shooting at everything, " Amin Sultani, a 23-year-old Afghan who

lives next to the hotel, said earlier as the fight was still raging. " We can see

a sniper on the roof, shooting and then running to another position to avoid

return fire. "

The Taliban said 50 foreigners and Afghans had been killed, though the

insurgents tend to exaggerate the casualties their attacks inflict.

" Our people have attacked the Intercontinental hotel while a gathering of 300

(foreigners) and Afghan officials met, " the Taliban said in an emailed

statement. " On each floor of the hotel, our fighters have broken down the door

to each room, taking out guests and killing them. Most of them are foreigners. "

— contributed to this article.