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Taliban Carry Out Truck Bomb Attack on Hotel in Kabul | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Taliban militants yesterday carried out an attack on a hotel frequented by foreigners in Kabul by using a truck bomb. The attack was followed by clashes with the security forces that lasted seven hours. Kabul’s security situation is deteriorating and it is still trying to recover from the most violent attack in 15 years that took place recently.

None of the employees or guests was injured during the attack on the hotel called North Gate. A policeman was killed in the attack which was facilitated by a gunman who detonated a truck bomb, thereby allowing gunmen to enter the hotel compound that is heavily guarded and is situated near Kabul airport.

The explosion shook large parts of the Afghan capital, and left behind a deep crater in the ground and a tangle of wreckage but caused few casualties. The compound has previously been subjected to an attack in July 2013. Kabul police chief Abdel Rahman Rahimi said that a truck bomb went off at the gate of the North Gate compound and then two gunmen went inside. He added that “a policeman was killed, 3 others wounded were injured, but none of the hotel staff or guests was hurt”.

The attack came days after ISIS claimed responsibility for two bombings that killed 80 people in Kabul, the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001. Afghan special forces imposed a tight cordon around the hotel, and the sound of sporadic explosions and gunfire could be heard in the area after the attack.