Taliban kill nine in Kabul hotel attack

AFGHAN police continued to sift through one of Kabul’s landmark hotels room by room for any more casualties, securing the building after an overnight assault by Taliban suicide bombers killed eight Afghan civilians and police and one foreigner.

The nine attackers, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, stormed the heavily guarded Intercontinental hotel, frequented by Westerners and VIPs, before a NATO helicopter killed the remaining insurgents in a final rooftop battle that ended a raid lasting more than five hours.

The foreign victim was a Spanish civil aviation pilot, according to Spain’s foreign ministry.