A powerful rocket exploded near one of Kabul's few upscale hotels on Saturday night, knocking some guests from their restaurant chairs and shattering windows across the lobby and in many bedrooms.
No injuries were reported, and no group immediately claimed responsibility, but the attack raised concerns about security in Kabul, where rocket and mortar attacks have been fairly rare since the fall of the Taliban regime two years ago.
Security is of particular concern ahead of a loya jirga, or grand council, scheduled for next month to ratify a new constitution. Some 500 delegates are expected to take part in the meeting, which is to be held near the hotel and is considered a key step in Afghanistan's recovery from a quarter-century of war.
The Intercontinental Hotel sits atop a hill at the center of the city, and the rocket smashed through a stone wall in a garden about 50m from the back of the building. The blast sent glass raining into the lobby and many bedrooms in the hotel, which is often used by foreign businesspeople and journalists.
Police and soldiers from the 5,000-strong NATO-led peace force rushed to the hotel after the blast and guarded its front door, as some guests quickly checked out in fear of another attack.
"A rocket crater has been identified," said Squadron Leader Paul Rice, a spokesman for the peacekeepers, called the International Security Assistance Force.
Major Kevin Arata, another spokesman for the peacekeepers, said the blast had caused "some minor structural damage, but no injuries."
Taliban insurgents have launched an increasingly bold campaign throughout the country in recent months, often targeting relief agencies and coalition forces in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But attacks in the capital are relatively rare.
Saturday's attack came six days after a French refugee worker, Bettina Goislard, was gunned down south of Kabul, becoming the first international UN worker killed in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban.
Intercontinental director Arif Marcheen said the hotel has 140 rooms and was nearly full. He said he had no idea who would have attacked the hotel.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the