The most guarded hotel in Afghanistan was taken over by 6 people ... and this against the background of the withdrawal of US troops
The Afghan Taliban have made, perhaps, the most audacious act of terrorism lately. Several militants broke into a prestigious hotel in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, and exchanged fire with security forces for several hours. The terrorists were well armed, and their coordinated actions helped in a matter of minutes to take control of the entire building. And this is despite the fact that the hotel is one of the best and most protected in the country.
On Tuesday, 28 June, around ten o'clock in the evening, several heavily armed militants burst into the largest hotel in Afghanistan, one of whom exploded at the entrance from the very first minutes of the attack. The rest are quickly distributed around the hotel and take control of all six floors at once. Later, according to witnesses, two more explosions thundered in the building.
The police arrived at the scene and began an exchange of fire within 10-15 minutes, the British newspaper The Telegraph writes. By that time, the Taliban had already developed their line of defense and managed to gain a foothold in their positions. The criminals were armed with AK assault rifles, hand grenades and grenade launchers. According to a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, Mohammad Zaman, they even had anti-aircraft weapons.
About an hour later, a representative of the Taliban movement Zabiullah Mujahid contacted The Associated Press and, on behalf of the organization, took responsibility for the attack. In a telephone conversation, the reporter learned that the attack was proceeding as planned, the Taliban had already killed and wounded people at the 50 hotel and are going to break down the doors to the rooms, in order to pull out the guests from there one by one. Mainly, they were interested in foreigners. The Intercontinental Hotel is very popular with Western journalists, politicians and businessmen - this is the most prestigious hotel in Kabul. However, it was on this night that high-ranking officials from all over Afghanistan gathered there - in the coming days, a conference was scheduled in Kabul on the transfer of responsibility for security to the Afghan authorities, which should take place before 2014.
Approximately in about 45 minutes, Afghan special forces arrived at the scene, and after a while the official representative of the Ministry of the Interior, Sedik Sedicchi, announced that the terrorists had been destroyed and the military were engaged in the search for victims.
The final stage of the operation began with the successful attack of two NATO helicopters, which destroyed three militants entrenched on the roof of the hotel. However, even after half an hour after this statement, the sounds of shooting came from the building. The head of the Kabul criminal police, Mohammad Zahir, told reporters that the operation was complicated by the fact that the electricity was cut off after the first explosions in the hotel. The siloviki, like the terrorists, acted in total darkness. It was finally possible to bring the situation under control only five hours after the attack of the Taliban.
According to Mohammad Zaman, 60-70 guests were at the hotel at the time of the attack, writes Al Jazeera. However, accurate data on the dead and injured so far. It is known that at least ten civilians were killed - including hotel employees. Only six terrorists attacked the hotel.
In view of the upcoming conference, the attack turned out to be more than symbolic. The Taliban, as it were, did not declare that they intend to thwart any negotiations on the withdrawal of the American troops, but they greatly compromised the Afghan authorities in the eyes of the world community, having staged such a brutal attack, despite all the measures of protection. To enter the Intercontinental, guests must pass three checkpoints. Yes, when attacking, that first blast helped greatly, but the fact that only a suicide bomber could open the way to his like-minded people, experts strongly doubt. Before this explosion, guests heard the shootout outside. The six of the Taliban engaged in open battle with the hotel’s security service. However, if this were the case, then this plan could not be called well developed. Now the special services have to figure out how the criminals managed to carry out their bold and even reckless design, and moreover, successfully. According to one version, they were dressed in police uniforms or in staff clothes, but this information has not yet been confirmed.
This attack is already being compared with a prepared attack on Mumbai in India in 2008, when several Pakistani terrorists, also fully armed, roamed the city, firing immigrants from the west. Then, security forces besieged several five-star hotels and cafes for three days. This attack took the authorities by surprise - no one expected such a bold action.
The attack on the Kabul hotel took place against the background of active negotiations (at least their visibility) between the US and Afghanistan about the withdrawal of the American contingent from the combat zone - last week Barack Obama announced that by the end of 2012, he intended to withdraw 30 thousand soldiers from Afghanistan . At the same time, the media recently leaked information that the US authorities were secretly discussing with Kabul possible options on how to detain the military in an unstable region - after all, it is not necessary to do this under the guise of a military operation against Al-Qaida. However, the official confirmation of this information has not yet been found. There is no evidence that Washington is secretly actively negotiating with the Taliban. Again, this was not a refutation. But there were statements by the US authorities that the Taliban, in general, do not pose a threat to the world community, as they are “sharpened” exclusively for their native region, unlike Al-Qaida, which declared “universal jihad”. There were also repeated calls to step back from the brainchild of Osama bin Laden, and hints that in this case, perhaps, the wrath of the powerful of this world will bypass the prudent Taliban party.
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