Massive truck bomb targets foreign hotel in Kabul

A Taliban truck bomb blasted a foreigner guesthouse in Kabul, at about 1.30am local time on Monday morning, killing one policeman and wounding three, Afghan officials said.

The Taliban insurgents issued a lengthy statement, claimed that they had targeted a heavily guarded guesthouse for foreign contractors on the outskirts of the city.

The Taliban message to media outlets said the hotel was targeted by a truck bomb and casualties were high. The Taliban regularly exaggerates the impact of attacks.

“A lorry bomb went off at the gate of the North Gate compound and then two gunmen went inside, no one staying at the compound was injured,” Kabul chief of police, Abdul Rahman Rahimi said.

The explosion outside the Northgate Hotel, a secure residential compound for foreign military and civilian organizations, destroyed light metal structures in an empty neighboring compound and left debris strewn about but heavy blast walls remained intact.

As day broke, gunfire and occasional explosions rang out over the area where security forces had taken up positions.

Power in parts of Kabul was briefly cut off shortly after the explosion.

“I was about to go to sleep when the explosion happened. The power went off,” local resident, Inamullah Khan told BBC. “It was a very big explosion. It was very big.”

“I’ve spent eight years in Afghanistan and it was the loudest and the most heavy blast I have ever experienced,” said Andreas Wilmers, chief operating officer of Afghanistan Broadcast System.

A similar attack near the same Northgate compound three years ago, involving five attackers, killed at least four security guards before the militants were gunned down.