Deadly siege on luxury Afghan hotel ends, 9 people killed

A deadly siege on a luxury hotel in Afghanistan was over on Sunday after almost 12-hour fighting between security forces and the attackers, leaving nine people dead including four attackers, the Interior Ministry said.

Security forces are seen as smoke billows from the Intercontinental Hotel after an attack by armed gunmen in Kabul, Afghanistan, 21 January 2018. On 20 January a group of armed insurgents attacked Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, a luxury establishment frequently visited by foreigners. [Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/Haroon Sabawoon]

"Unfortunately five civilians, including a foreign national, were killed and six others, including four personnel of police, sustained injuries," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, all four attackers with suicide jackets, who stormed the Intercontinental Hotel Saturday night, had been killed and the situation had been brought under control.

The Interior Ministry added that the police personnel during the operations against the terrorists had also rescued 160 guests, including 41 foreigners from the hotel. 

Meanwhile, the ministry blamed the notorious Haqqani network, the military wing of Taliban group operating in the capital city of Kabul and eastern region of Afghanistan for the siege, saying "intelligence reports have suggested that the Haqqani network is behind the coward terrorist attack."

The infamous Haqqani network, which claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the hotel in 2011, has yet to claim responsibility for the fresh bloody offensive on the hotel, where foreign guests including dignitaries and Afghan officials often have meals and hold conferences.