'Taleban held' after hotel attack The Afghan authorities say they have arrested one of a group of Taleban attackers who stormed the luxury Serena hotel in Kabul on Monday evening. They say two of the attackers died in the raid as well as a number of hotel guards and guests.
One of the attackers detonated his explosive jacket. Guests, including the Norwegian foreign minister, were taken to the hotel cellar for safety. The Serena is the main Kabul hotel for foreign visitors. Monday's attack was the latest in a string of Taleban attacks in the capital in recent weeks. 'Changed his mind' There are still conflicting accounts of how the attack unfolded and the numbers of dead. It was a big bomb and the building was shaking a bit Anne Lene Dale Sandsten Norwegian foreign ministry Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh told journalists on Tuesday that three Taleban, all wearing suicide jackets, stormed the heavily protected hotel. He said one was shot by a hotel guard outside the building, causing his jacket to explode. Another, Mr Saleh said, died after he detonated his jacket inside the building. The third attacker, Mr Saleh said, was arrested shortly after the attack began. "The third person, after killing a number of the guests, maybe he changed his mind for some reason, he didn't detonate himself," Mr Saleh said, the Associated Press news agency reports. "He changed his clothes and later when security forces searched the premises, he was arrested." Mr Saleh also said that a man who drove the attackers to the hotel had been arrested, as well as two men who had given them accommodation in Kabul. Shortly after news of the attack broke, a Taleban spokesman said four of their fighters, all wearing explosive jackets, were involved. The dead include a Norwegian journalist, Carsten Thomassen, 39, who worked for the Oslo newspaper, Dagbladet and a US citizen. 'Lie down' Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gah Store was among guests who took refuge in a cellar. Norwegian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne Lene Dale Sandsten told the BBC News website Norwegian officials had been in a meeting one level down from the reception when they heard shooting and "then a big blast go off one level up". "We had security people with us and we were told to lie down." Suzanne Griffin, a US aid worker who had been in the hotel gym, told the Associated Press news agency the gunfire had been "close enough that plaster came off the ceiling". "We had to step over a woman's dead body - she was one of the gym people," she added. Deteriorating security Nato officials argue that suicide attacks are a sign of the Taleban's weakness after a series of defeats on the conventional battlefield, BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson reports. But Nato and Afghan officials concede that suicide attacks provide spectacular publicity for the insurgents, our correspondent adds. In December the Taleban carried out two suicide bombings in Kabul, killing 13 people in one attack. Later that month, a rocket attack near the Kabul governor's residence killed five people. Security in much of Afghanistan has deteriorated in the past two years as the Taleban have renewed their attacks on Afghan security forces and Western troops. US-led forces toppled the Taleban government in late 2001. Are you in the area? Have you been affected by this incident? If you have any information you would like to share with the BBC you can do so using the form below: You can send pictures and video to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or text them to +44 7725 100 100 . If you have a large file you can upload here. Click here to see terms and conditions At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. Name: Email address: Town and Country: Phone number (optional): Comments: Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7188883.stm Published: 2008/01/15 10:15:01 GMT © BBC MMVIII --------------- Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif. __________________________________________________________ Sent from Yahoo! Mail - a smarter inbox http://uk.mail.yahoo.com Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
