Truck Bomb rips through Kabul hotel

Kabul: A Taliban truck bomb blasted a hotel for foreigners in Kabul yesterday, triggering a seven-hour gun-and-grenade assault that highlighted growing insecurity in a city still reeling from its deadliest attack for 15 years.

The guests and staff of the Northgate hotel escaped unharmed, but one policeman was killed after the suicide truck bomber paved the way for two other armed insurgents to enter the heavily guarded facility near Kabul airport.

The massive explosion reverberated through the Afghan capital, leaving a huge muddy crater and piles of scorched debris strewn at the compound, which was previously attacked in July 2013.

“A truck bomb packed with explosives struck the outer (perimeter) wall of the hotel,” said Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi.

“One policeman lost his life and three others were wounded but none of the hotel staff or guests were hurt. Three Taliban fighters including the truck bomber were killed.”

The attack came days after the Islamic State group claimed twin bombings that left 80 people dead in Kabul, the deadliest attack in the city since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001.

Afghan commandos set up a tight security cordon around Northgate, which is used by military contractors and other foreigners, as sporadic grenade explosions and gunfire shook the area after the truck bomb struck around 1:30am (2100 GMT Sunday). 

Local TV station Tolo cited a source inside the facility as saying that all the staff and guests - including at least 11 foreigners, hunkered down in safe rooms throughout the night. 

It added that NATO Special Forces had overseen the clearance operation at the Northgate, a luxury enclave that had been fortified with blast walls, watchtowers and sniffer dogs.

Growing insecurity

“The blast was so strong that it startled everybody out of their beds,” Abdul Mohib, a resident of the neighbourhood, said. “The children were shocked. We all left the house screaming and shouting as our windows were shattered.” 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns blasted their way into the compound housing “American invaders” after the truck bomb went off.

He said the attack was meant to avenge the killing of former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone strike inside Pakistan in May.

The militants are intensifying their annual summer offensive after a brief lull during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended in early July. (AFP)