KABUL: Taliban militants armed with guns and rockets attacked a lakeside hotel near Kabul overnight, seizing dozens of hostages including women and children and killing four people.
The brazen assault on the Spozhmai Hotel will only exacerbate fears that insecurity is spiralling as NATO combat troops prepare to exit the Afghan war in 2014.
More than 10 hours after the attack began after a number of the hostages were freed by Afghan security forces an AFP photographer at the popular picnic spot on the shores of Lake Qargha, could still hear gunfire and explosions.
Afghan forces backed by NATO launched an assault to retake the hotel after dawn. By mid-morning at least one insurgent still holed up in the hotel launched a rocket as NATO helicopters circled overhead, the photographer said.
A series of sensational, commando-style insurgent attacks have targeted Kabul, the most heavily protected part of the war-torn country, typically taking hours to quell and striking fear into the public.
The Spozhmai is a haunt of the wealthy Kabul elite and on Thursday nights -- the start of the Afghan weekend is usually packed with families and mixed groups of men and women.
The Taliban assault began around 11:30 pm (1900 GMT) Thursday, when suicide attackers armed with rockets and Kalashnikov rifles stormed the hotel, said Mohammad Zahir, the head of Kabul police criminal investigation department.
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