Update | AFP reporter, family among 9 civilians killed in Taliban attack on Kabul hotel
Teenage gunmen penetrate venue's security to kill at least nine civilians, just weeks before poll
At least nine civilians including children, a journalist and foreigners were killed in a Taliban attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul, officials said yesterday, just weeks before a presidential election.
Four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security at the Serena hotel, a prestigious venue favoured by foreign visitors to the capital, on Thursday night.
Sardar Ahmad, 40, a staff reporter at the Agence France-Presse news agency, was shot dead along with his wife and two of his three children on Thursday evening when four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security at the Serena hotel, a prestigious venue favoured by foreign visitors to the capital.
One of the civilians killed in the attack was a former Paraguayan diplomat who was in Afghanistan as an election observer, Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga said.
The attackers reached the hotel’s restaurant around 8.30pm and began firing indiscriminately at diners, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told a news conference.