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Militants attack Afghan hotel, kill 6

The brazen attack on a symbol of Western presence could augur a new wave of violence.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Militants stormed Kabul's most popular luxury hotel Monday, killing at least six people as they hunted down Westerners who cowered in a gym - a coordinated assault that could signal a new era of brazen Taliban attacks.

The gunmen threw grenades and fired AK-47s, and one blew himself up despite heavy security at the Serena Hotel. One American and a journalist from Norway were among the dead, officials said. The American was not identified; the Norwegian was identified as Carsten Thomassen, 38.

More than 30 U.S. soldiers in a half-dozen Humvees rushed to the hotel as part of a quick reaction force, and security personnel from the nearby U.S. Embassy ran through the building looking for U.S. citizens.

"There was blood on the floor all the way to the kitchen. There was a lot of blood in the lobby," said Suzanne Griffin of Seattle, who had been in the hotel gym at the time of the attack.

"There were empty shell casings outside," said Griffin, 62, who was working for Save the Children.

"Thank God I didn't get into the shower because then we heard gunfire, a lot of it. It was very close, close enough that plaster came off the ceiling," Griffin, her voice shaking, said shortly after the attack. "We all just sat on the floor and got as far as we could from any glass. ... We turned our phones on silent."

It was the deadliest direct attack on a hotel in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

The Taliban has targeted aid workers and civilian contractors with kidnappings and killings, but this was the most daring and sophisticated attack yet and was aimed at a prominent symbol of foreign presence in the country.

The assault began about 6 p.m., when the Norwegian Embassy was hosting a meeting at the Serena for visiting Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said Stoere, who was not hurt, was the target of the attack.

One of the militants was shot to death and a Taliban spokesman said a second died in the suicide explosion. It was not clear what happened to the other attackers.

Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said four militants with suicide vests attacked the hotel - one bomber who detonated his explosives and three militants who threw grenades and fired guns.

[Last modified January 14, 2008, 23:35:20]