Members of the Taliban stormed into a lakeside hotel just outside Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday night. After a 12-hour standoff, an Afghan police unit NATO forces ended the siege, Reuters reports.
The attack, which officials say seemed to have the trademarks of the Taliban-linked Haqqani group, rumored to be headquartered in Pakistan, lasted for 12 hours. While there were a maximum of 300 people in the hotel at the time the Taliban invaded, many jumped into the lake to escape. By the end of the ordeal, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said 12 to 15 civilians, two hotel guards and a policeman were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Five attackers were killed as well. Of the estimated 50 people that were taken hostage by the attackers, approximately 35 were rescued.
The Taliban attacked that location because they believed that wealthy Afghans and foreigners used the hotel for "prostitution" and "wild parties" ahead of a religious day holiday on Friday. The head of the Kabul police investigation unit, General Mohammad Zahir, saw things differently. "This is a crime against humanity because they targeted children, women and civilians picnicking at the lake. There wasn't even a single soldier around there," he said.
The attack highlights the tensions between the United States and Pakistan, and also shows that the Afghan police will have to deal with an insurgency that still has some fight left in it after more than a decade of war. The Afghans will be fighting the terrorist groups on their own after NATO forces leave the area by the end of 2014.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
