KABUL: As many as five people were killed when gunmen stormed a guesthouse in Kabul’s downtown, trapping dozens of people attending a concert and triggering an hours-long standoff with Afghan security forces, officials said Thursday (today).
Two Indians and an American were among five people killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the overnight siege on the Park Palace, which was about to host a concert by a well-known Afghan singer.
“The attack was planned carefully to target the party in which important people and Americans were attending,” the militants said in a statement.
The assault, which lasted around seven hours and triggered explosions and sporadic bursts of gunfire, comes as Afghan forces face their first fighting season against the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.
Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters that At least five people had been killed including foreigners and Afghans in the attack on Park Palace guesthouse adding that at least five others were wounded.
Kabul deputy police chief Sayed Gul Agha Rohani said the siege ended when Afghan security forces killed three assailants.
