Afghan hotel survives rocket attack

A powerful rocket exploded near one of Kabul’s few luxury hotels tonight, knocking some guests from restaurant chairs and shattering windows across the reception and in many bedrooms.

No injuries were reported, and no group admitted the attack, but it 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 centre of the city, and the rocket smashed through a stone wall in a garden about 50 yards 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.

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.

Today’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.