47 freed amid Afghan hotel gun battle

June 22, 2012

By Arne Ruhnau

Taliban militants strike Afghan hotel, take hostages

From Nick Paton Walsh, CNN

June 22, 2012 — Updated 0642 GMT (1442 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Dozens of civilians are rescued, officials say
Police are moving slowly to avoid hurting civilians, Kabul chief says
At least one police officer has been killed, he says
It’s the latest in a string of high-profile strikes this week

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Taliban militants attacked a hotel near Kabul early Friday, sparking an hourslong gun battle with Afghan and NATO troops to free civilians taken hostage in the deadly siege.

At least three security guards, a police officer and three militants were killed in the standoff, according to Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, the Kabul police chief. Two other attackers are injured and resisting the assault, he said.

The siege is ongoing and at least 47 civilians have been rescued so far, including four women, he said.

Terrified civilians fled when the gunmen struck the Spozhmai hotel around midnight Thursday local time, with some jumping into a nearby lake to avoid the bloodshed. The hotel was hosting an outdoor dinner that drew a large number of Afghans, including women and children.

Afghan forces moved slowly overnight to avoid civilian casualties, the police chief said. Camouflaged soldiers hovered nearby in military vehicles as helicopters flew overhead amid heavy gunfire.

“We did not take any action in the dark because of the risk to civilians, but now we have begun our attack,” Salangi said.

There was no immediate indication of coalition forces casualties, said Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.

The attack follows strikes aimed at allied troops and Afghan security forces, including Wednesday bombings in two eastern provinces that killed at least 29 people, including three American soldiers.

It also comes nearly a year after an insurgent attack on Kabul’s Hotel Inter-Continental left nine attackers and 12 others dead.

In an e-mail, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the targets were Westerners.

Attackers are armed with suicide vests, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, he said.

“Every night people come here for different types of debauchery, but on Thursday night, the number increases, including foreigners who come here and they hold anti-Islamic ceremonies,” Mujahid said. “Tonight, according to our information, a number of ISAF and embassy diplomats from foreign countries have been invited by some senior Kabul administration officials and are now under attack.”

He said the Taliban were fighting government forces outside the hotel and had killed tens of government officials and foreigners, but the insurgents regularly inflate casualty figures.

The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist militia, once ruled most of the country.

CNN’s Masoud Popalzai contributed to this report.