At least four gunmen attacked the InterContinental Hotel in Kabul on Saturday evening and shot at the hotel’s guests, who were in a bloody attack in 2011, reports AFP news agency.
According to a source in the Afghan intelligence services, “the attack is still ongoing” more than an hour after the first shots heard after 21:00.
“I hear the sounds of the shots that appear to be coming from the first floor, but I do not know where they are, we are hiding in our rooms, get help quickly,” said one of the hotel guests, contacted by AFP.
The guest, who asked not to be identified, said he was on the third floor.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh confirmed the attack and said at least one of the militants had been taken over. But there were no immediate casualties.
Local media have reported many deaths.
The attack, which has not yet been adopted by any side, follows a series of specific warnings about hotels and foreigners’ gatherings in Kabul.
The attack began with an explosion to make room for the militants and then cut off electricity, according to a source in the anti-terrorism agencies.
The gunmen set fire to the fourth floor of the hotel before they were holed up on the second floor, according to another security source.
– Wedding and conference –
An AFP correspondent located not far from the hotel said the main roads leading to the hotel on a plateau west of Kabul had been closed.
It is organized at the luxurious InterContinental Hotel in Kabul, which has four restaurants, but does not follow the international chain of hotels of the same name, weddings, conferences and political meetings.
On Saturday morning, he witnessed a conference on Chinese investment in Afghanistan.
Members of the wealthy class are greeted on its bright balconies overlooking Kabul.
The hotel, which opened for the first time in 1969, was attacked in June 2011 by the Taliban and killed 21 people.
A group of nine gunmen stormed the hotel. The attack called for the intervention of Afghan special forces backed by NATO helicopters. All members of the armed group were killed.
Since then, the hotel has been heavily guarded with private entrances and car installations and electronic gates at the entrances.
But surrounded by parks and green areas that could sneak into it.
Saturday’s attack comes days after a UN Security Council visit to Kabul ended on Monday and after a ministerial meeting of the Security Council in New York devoted to Afghanistan.