Taliban kill 18 over ‘wild parties’ in Afghan hotel

For eight-year-old Rasoul Khan, a cleaning job at a favoured weekend relaxation spot for Kabul’s wealthy was meant to help bring a better life in a country stricken by widespread poverty.

Instead, the Spozhmai Hotel beside Qargha Lake will probably evoke terror whenever he remembers the five Taliban gunmen who burst through its doors on Thursday night and killed 18 people as the privileged gathered to relax ahead of the Friday religious holiday.

“They were asking everyone where the pimps were. They shot anyone who would not co-operate with them,” said Rasoul, bearing a facial injury and standing barefoot after fleeing the leafy grounds.