(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 9:20am UK, Friday June 22, 2012

A Taliban assault on a hotel on the outskirts of Kabul has left 17 people dead.

At least 12 civilians were killed in the armed siege at the Spozhmai Hotel at Qargha lake on the outskirts of the capital, according to local police.

Afghan interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said all five militants - who were armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades - are now dead.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying wealthy Afghans used the hotel to have "wild parties" in the lead up to Friday's religious holiday.

General Zahir said there was a private party for rich Afghans inside the hotel when the attack began.

Many guests jumped into the lake to escape the assault, he added.

A gunfight had been underway for more than four hours before dawn broke over Kabul.

Qargha lake is a well-used location for weekend getaways from Kabul.

Restaurants and hotels that dot the shore are popular with Afghan government officials and businessmen, particularly on Thursday nights.






Attacks across Afghanistan have surged in recent days, with three US soldiers and more than a dozen civilians killed in successive attacks, mostly in the country's east, which has so far been a focus for Nato-led forces during the summer fighting months.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, said in a speech to a special session of parliament on Thursday that attacks by insurgents against local police and soldiers were increasing as foreign combat troops prepare to leave the country in 2014.

A statement by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force said Afghan civilians and police were targeted in the attack on the hotel and that it had received reports of an unspecified number of casualties among civilians and police.






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They just never stop do they?

yeah thats very true, thats IF we pull out. when or if we do it will go back to its old ways. you cant change a place that has been currupt for years.


they have not had control over their country as soon as we landed but as soon as we leave the taliban will take what we leave and they will be an even stronger force.