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Taliban kill at least 18 in hotel attack
Taliban gunmen have killed at least 18 people at an Afghanistan hotel north of Kabul after storming the hotel Friday morning and taking dozens hostage.
Afghan officials said five gunmen held guests hostage in the hotel for 12 hours as they battled with Afghan security forces, according to reports from Kabul, before the five gunmen were killed by those forces.
The Associated Press reported that at least 18 people were killed in the attack, and some reports had the number slightly higher.
Gen. John Allen, the U.S. commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, said in a statement that the attack appears to have come from the Haqqani network, a group that operates primarily out of Pakistan. The latest battle is likely to add to growing pressure over Pakistan’s efforts — or lack thereof — to stop militants from launching attacks in Afghanistan from Pakistan.
Allen said that U.S. and coalition forces provided “minimal support” to the Afghans at their request as they battled the Taliban gunmen.
Attacks originating out of Pakistan from the Haqqani network are one of the biggest concerns among U.S. military officials as U.S. troops draw down and prepare to hand off security control to the Afghans in 2014.
They’ve also been one of many points of tension between the United States and Pakistan as Islamabad has kept the NATO supply line into Afghanistan closed for months.
Fourteen Afghan civilians, three security guards and one Afghan police officer died in the attack, according to the AP, citing a Kabul police official.
