NATO air strike kills fighter linked to Afghan hotel attack (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) – NATO aircraft killed an insurgent leader linked to a deadly hotel attack in the Afghan capital this week, the coalition said on Thursday, a raid that raised questions about whether Afghan forces are ready for the looming security transition.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the Intercontinental, one of two major hotels used by foreigners and Afghan government officials, a rare night-time raid that began on Tuesday and ended five hours later with 12 killed.

However, the NATO-led Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network had also been involved in the assault by nine suicide bombers and gunmen.

ISAF identified the Haqqani network leader killed in an air strike as Ismail Jan, who it described as a deputy to the senior Haqqani commander in Afghanistan, Haji Mali Khan.

It said he and "several Haqqani fighters" were killed in the air strike in the Gardez district of Paktia province south of Kabul on Wednesday.

"The Haqqani network, in conjunction with Taliban operatives, was responsible for the Tuesday night attack on the Kabul Intercontinental hotel which killed 12 people, including a provincial judge," ISAF said in a statement.

The brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops, with 10,000 to leave by the end of this year and another 23,000 by the end September 2012.

Obama's announcement preceded the start of a gradual transition of responsibility to Afghan forces from next month that will end with all foreign combat troops leaving Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

With that transition process to begin in seven areas next month, the hotel raid raised serious questions about whether Afghan forces, particularly the police, were ready to take over.

"It shows one of the concerns is that the Afghan security forces are growing in quantity, not in quality," said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network.

SNIPERS

The attack ended when snipers on board a NATO helicopter killed the last three attackers fighting from the roof of the hotel. Earlier television footage showed Afghan forces firing wildly into the air.

The New York Times reported on Thursday that some police had refused to fight back.

ISAF has been training members of the 126,000-strong Afghan National Police since 2009.

Afghan police, who will be at the front line of the security transition in villages and towns across Afghanistan, have long been viewed as inept and lagging behind the training of the better-equipped army, which had been the focus of training efforts since the Taliban were toppled in late 2001.

Violence has risen to record levels across Afghanistan over the past 18 months as NATO troops, especially U.S. forces, hit back against a growing insurgency, especially in the Taliban heartland in the south.

A quarterly report by the United Nations secretary-general to the Security Council about Afghanistan found that the number of security incidents since March had risen 51 percent on the same period in 2010, with suicide attacks rising sharply.

Attacks in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar were especially worrying. "The city of Kandahar and its surroundings registered the majority of the incidents during the reporting period, with a quarter of the overall attacks and more than half of all assassinations recorded countrywide," the report said.

But Ruttig said the attack also highlighted other problems confronting Afghanistan before the transition process, which also includes handing the running of civil institutions and projects over to Afghans, begins.

Not the least of those is the political paralysis that has gripped the country for months.

"The fact that neither NATO nor the Afghans were able to prevent it says something -- that transition needs to be something more than just security," Ruttig said of the hotel attack.

"Security forces are only part of transition. There also needs to be a strengthening of political institutions and, at the moment, the parliamentary crisis has brought politics to a standstill," he told Reuters.

Last week, a special poll court set up by a decree by President Hamid Karzai overturned the results for a quarter of the seats in parliament from elections last year, effectively throwing out 62 MPs who had been declared winners.

The move, and the court itself, have been branded unconstitutional and illegal by Afghan and Western officials and observers. Critics have said the court was set up by Karzai to further his own political agenda and silence opposition.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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Police search Kabul hotel after Taliban attack kills 9 (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan police sifted through one of Kabul's landmark hotels room by room on Wednesday for any more casualties, securing the building after an overnight assault by Taliban suicide bombers killed eight Afghan civilians and police and a 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.

The brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops to 2014, and it raised more doubts about the ability of Afghan security forces to battle insurgents.

It needed a NATO helicopter to finally finish off the attackers, and NATO trainers helped oversee the Afghan police response to the raid.

After several explosions, attackers entered the hotel late on Tuesday and made their way to the ballroom, a hotel receptionist said.

Some carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw. Guests jumped from second and third floors to escape, the receptionist told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

"The police are still searching room by room to see if there are any casualties or any threats," Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi told reporters.

Eight people were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry.

There have been insurgent attacks at a hotel, guesthouse and a supermarket in Kabul over the past year, although the capital has been relatively quiet compared with the rest of the country.

The timing of the attack, suggested similarities with other raids meant to show the Taliban retain the ability to strike at will despite gains made by NATO-led troops over the past 18 months.

Some guests included provincial governors attending a conference due to begin on Wednesday over the transition of civil and military responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans, two Afghan officials said.

Last week, Obama announced plans for an initial withdrawal of 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, with another 23,000 to leave by the end of 2012, sparking concern the Afghan security forces were not ready to take over.

But President Hamid Karzai said the plan stood.

"This insurgent attack cannot stop our security transition process," Karzai said in a statement.

LATE-NIGHT ATTACK

Hours after the attack began, some foreign hotel guests were driven away in diplomatic vehicles while others waited on a street outside the hotel as the sun rose over Kabul.

Reuters witnesses heard at least seven blasts over the course of more than five hours, with bursts of gunfire heard.

Three insurgents were shot dead while six blew themselves up.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several fighters from the Islamist group had attacked the hotel.

Mujahid, who spoke to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, said heavy casualties had been inflicted.

The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties in attacks against Western and Afghan government targets.

One blast was heard at the start of the attack and then three more about an hour later, one of the Reuters witnesses said. Bursts of gunfire were heard over the same period and flares lit up the sky.

Reuters television footage showed police firing tracer rounds into the air as other officers moved through the hotel.

Power was cut in the hotel and in surrounding areas after the attack.

The hotel, built on a hill in western Kabul with fortifications around it, was for years the city's main hotel and is often used for conferences and by Westerners.

Violence has flared across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May.

The last big attack on a major Kabul hotel used by foreigners was in January 2008, when several Taliban gunmen killed six people in a commando-style raid on the city-center Serena hotel.

The increase in violence comes as NATO-led forces prepare to hand security responsibility to Afghans in seven areas from next month at the start of the gradual transition that will end with all combat foreign troops leaving by the end of 2014.

The two-day conference to discuss the transition was due to begin in a government building in the center of the city on Wednesday. Officials said the conference would go on despite the attack.

Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 the worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Omar Sobhani and Ahmad Masood; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Police search Kabul hotel after Taliban attack kills 9 (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan police sifted through one of Kabul's landmark hotels room by room on Wednesday for any more casualties, securing the building after an overnight assault by Taliban suicide bombers killed eight Afghan civilians and police and a 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.

The brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops to 2014, and it raised more doubts about the ability of Afghan security forces to battle insurgents.

It needed a NATO helicopter to finally finish off the attackers, and NATO trainers helped oversee the Afghan police response to the raid.

After several explosions, attackers entered the hotel late on Tuesday and made their way to the ballroom, a hotel receptionist said.

Some carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw. Guests jumped from second and third floors to escape, the receptionist told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

"The police are still searching room by room to see if there are any casualties or any threats," Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi told reporters.

Eight people were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry.

There have been insurgent attacks at a hotel, guesthouse and a supermarket in Kabul over the past year, although the capital has been relatively quiet compared with the rest of the country.

The timing of the attack, suggested similarities with other raids meant to show the Taliban retain the ability to strike at will despite gains made by NATO-led troops over the past 18 months.

Some guests included provincial governors attending a conference due to begin on Wednesday over the transition of civil and military responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans, two Afghan officials said.

Last week, Obama announced plans for an initial withdrawal of 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, with another 23,000 to leave by the end of 2012, sparking concern the Afghan security forces were not ready to take over.

But President Hamid Karzai said the plan stood.

"This insurgent attack cannot stop our security transition process," Karzai said in a statement.

LATE-NIGHT ATTACK

Hours after the attack began, some foreign hotel guests were driven away in diplomatic vehicles while others waited on a street outside the hotel as the sun rose over Kabul.

Reuters witnesses heard at least seven blasts over the course of more than five hours, with bursts of gunfire heard.

Three insurgents were shot dead while six blew themselves up.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several fighters from the Islamist group had attacked the hotel.

Mujahid, who spoke to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, said heavy casualties had been inflicted.

The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties in attacks against Western and Afghan government targets.

One blast was heard at the start of the attack and then three more about an hour later, one of the Reuters witnesses said. Bursts of gunfire were heard over the same period and flares lit up the sky.

Reuters television footage showed police firing tracer rounds into the air as other officers moved through the hotel.

Power was cut in the hotel and in surrounding areas after the attack.

The hotel, built on a hill in western Kabul with fortifications around it, was for years the city's main hotel and is often used for conferences and by Westerners.

Violence has flared across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May.

The last big attack on a major Kabul hotel used by foreigners was in January 2008, when several Taliban gunmen killed six people in a commando-style raid on the city-center Serena hotel.

The increase in violence comes as NATO-led forces prepare to hand security responsibility to Afghans in seven areas from next month at the start of the gradual transition that will end with all combat foreign troops leaving by the end of 2014.

The two-day conference to discuss the transition was due to begin in a government building in the center of the city on Wednesday. Officials said the conference would go on despite the attack.

Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 the worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Omar Sobhani and Ahmad Masood; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Ten killed as Taliban storm Kabul hotel (AFP)

KABUL (AFP) – Heavily armed Taliban militants stormed a leading Kabul hotel, sparking a ferocious battle involving Afghan commandos and a NATO helicopter gunship that ended hours later with 10 civilians dead.

Officials said all eight of the attackers were killed after they raided the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel, whose faded grandeur frequently pays host to Afghan officials and Westerners, late Tuesday.

Red tracer bullets arced through the night sky around the hotel and part of the building was left in flames.

The state-owned 1960s hotel, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain, was hosting delegates attending an Afghan security conference and a large wedding party when the insurgents struck.

Kabul police chief Ayub Salangi said that 10 people, mostly hotel workers, were killed in the raid and three police officers were wounded.

Interior ministry spokesman Seddiq Seddiqi identified the dead as two policemen and eight civilians, and said that eight other civilians were wounded.

He said the slain hotel workers had been on the first floor and in the lobby at the time of the attack.

Two New Zealand special forces troops who had been supporting the Afghan commandos received "moderate injuries", the country's defence force said.

An AFP photographer saw half a dozen of what appeared to be Western special forces soldiers emerging from the Intercontinental compound, one of whom had blood on his right cheek and on his hands.

The attackers steered clear of the normally heavily guarded road snaking up to the hotel, instead picking their way through the trees on the northern slope towards the building, police said.

"Eight armed terrorists attacked the Intercontinental hotel at 11:00 last night... the operation ended at 3:00 am Wednesday morning after the eight terrorists were killed," the interior ministry said.

Among those staying at the hotel were provincial government officials who were in Kabul for a conference on the handover of power from foreign to Afghan security forces. The process starts next month.

Panicked guests were told to stay in their rooms as the attackers, thought to have suicide vests, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, roamed through the building.

Major Tim James, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said ISAF deployed one helicopter at the request of Afghan authorities.

"It flew over the hotel, circled it a few times. They were able to clearly identify a number of insurgents who were armed and wearing suicide vests and then they engaged the individuals with small-arms fire," James told AFP.

"We've had reports that there were a number of explosions caused either by the insurgents detonating themselves or the engagement by the helicopter causing that (suicide vests) to explode," he said.

Witnesses identified the NATO aircraft as an Apache attack helicopter.

A member of staff named Ezatullah said he hid in a room on the fifth floor when the attack started.

"There was first gunfire, and then two blasts. It continued and got worse. The room I was hiding in filled with smoke," he said.

"I had to leave. As I got out I saw trails of blood, and then the police came and took me out of the building."

Security at most high-end hotels in Kabul was significantly stepped up after an attack on the city centre's Serena Hotel in 2008 left seven people dead.

The Intercontinental is less deluxe than the Serena, which is the favoured choice of foreign officials and business people visiting the Afghan capital.

The US State Department said: "The United States strongly condemns the attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, which once again demonstrates the terrorists' complete disregard for human life."

During the assault, AFP reporters saw 10-15 armoured vehicles carrying Afghan commandos entering the hotel compound.

The reporters heard five separate explosions as the attack unfolded and said the hotel was in darkness after power in the area was apparently cut. Ambulances rushed to the site to ferry away casualties.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militant Islamist group was behind the attack, which comes weeks before foreign forces are expected to start withdrawals from Afghanistan.

Some 10,000 US troops are due to leave the country this year, ahead of the planned end of foreign combat operations at the end of 2014. Security in Kabul is already under the control of Afghan forces.

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Taliban bombers target luxury hotel, 18 dead

The Taliban says suicide attackers entered after killing security guards "The death number may increase," a chief of criminal investigations says "I wrote my little will -- just in case," a hotel guest says after the ordeal

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight suicide bombers attacked Kabul's Hotel Inter-Continental in a brazen, carefully orchestrated operation that began Tuesday night and continued into Wednesday, ending with their deaths and those of 10 others, officials said.

Two police officers are among the dead, according to the Interior Ministry.

"As a result of Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army and Coalition force's fast reaction and by air support of the NATO forces, eight suicide bombers were killed," the ministry said in a statement.

Mohammad Zahir, chief of criminal investigations for Kabul police, said Wednesday morning that casualty figures could rise.

"We are still searching the hotel; the death number may increase," Zahir said. Twelve people were injured, he added.

Interior Minister Bismullah Khan said "the situation is secure."

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahid, said in an e-mail that the suicide attackers entered the hotel after killing security guards at the entrance.

"One of the suicide attackers told us on the phone that they are in the lobby and chasing guests into their rooms by smashing the doors of the rooms," Mujahid told CNN in an e-mail he sent as the incident was unfolding.

The top of the hotel was ablaze, but flames were gone within a few hours. Smoke continued to rise from the building Wednesday morning.

By dawn, security forces were allowing reporters to approach the hotel, and some guests were seen departing.

Saiz Ahmed, a U.S. citizen in Kabul for a Ph.D. project, was among them. "I'm sure none of us thought we were going to make it," he said after having stayed on the floor of his darkened bedroom for more than five hours listening to gunfire and occasional bomb blasts. "I wrote my little will -- just in case."

The Taliban penetrated the hotel's typically heavy security in the attack, and one of them detonated an explosion on the second floor, said Erin Cunningham, a journalist for The Daily in Kabul.

Rocket-propelled grenades were launched from the roof of the hotel toward the first vice president's house. A few moments later, the hotel was rocked by three explosions, one of which knocked her off her feet, Cunningham said. U.S. forces were on the scene, she added.

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At about 2 a.m., four hours after the attack began, International Security Assistance Force helicopters fired at insurgents on the roof, killing as many as three of the gunmen, ISAF spokesman Maj. Tim James told CNN.

An hour later, ISAF said the Afghan security forces had cleared the roof and were clearing the rest of the hotel.

At 4 a.m., police believed that all the attackers were dead, "but one was alive and hidden and he started to resist" and continued to do so until 6:20 a.m., Zahir said.

At least one of the attackers detonated his explosives, said Afghan Lt. Gen. Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, the city's chief of police.

There were no indications that U.S. military or diplomatic personnel were at the hotel, U.S. officials told CNN.

A news conference had been scheduled to take place in Kabul on Wednesday to discuss the planned transition of security from international to Afghan forces that U.S. President Barack Obama announced last week. Obama was briefed on the attack while en route back to Washington from Iowa, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

Members of the Afghan National Security Forces were on the scene, but the city police had the lead, ISAF Maj. Jason Waggoner said in a statement. Waggoner said ISAF forces provided "some limited assistance."

The United States condemned the attack on the hotel, with State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland saying it "once again demonstrates the terrorists' complete disregard for human life."

The hotel was developed by the InterContinental Hotels Group and opened in 1969. But it has had no association with the group since the Soviet invasion in 1979, though it continues to use the name and logo without connection to the parent company.

The incident came on the same day that Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell announced that NATO and other members of the international community involved in Afghanistan have decided to increase the number of security forces in the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police to 352,000.

The current number of Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police is about 300,000, the commander of the NATO training mission in Afghanistan and commanding general of the Combined Security Transition Command told the Atlanta Press Club.

The increased number will be sufficient to give the Afghans security without coalition forces having to do it, he said.

Tuesday's attack recalls a November 2008 assault on luxury hotels in Mumbai, India, which left more than 160 dead, including nine of the 10 gunmen who launched the attacks.

Officials said the gunmen targeted the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal hotels for their popularity with international travelers and tourists. The Taj Mahal was set afire.

The three-day stand-off between gunmen and police ended with the capture of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving gunman. Kasab was sentenced to death in 2010 and is awaiting an appeal of the decision to the Supreme Court in New Delhi. India says Kasab has told investigators that he and the others were trained for more than a year in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a banned Islamic militant group.

CNN's Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan; Matiullah Mati in Kabul, Afghanistan; Tom Watkins in Atlanta; Barbara Starr, Larry Shaughnessy and Elise Labott in Washington; and journalist Jonathan Boone in Kabul contributed to this report.

CNN

Austin hotel closing after third falling-glass incident

Falling-glass incident is the third in recent weeks involving the Austin, Texas, hotelHotel says it will close while it replaces all balcony glass; guests are being relocatedThe hotel is being sued over a June 10 incident in which two people were injuredRead more about this story from CNN affiliate KXAN-TV.

(CNN) -- The W Austin hotel is closing indefinitely after glass fell from the balcony panels of the Austin, Texas, building for a second day in a row and the third time in recent weeks, the hotel's parent company announced Tuesday.

The hotel will be closed "until further notice" as the glass panels are replaced, the hotel's parent company said in a statement Tuesday. Guests of the hotel are being relocated to other hotels.

"We are replacing every piece of balcony glass on the building," Stratus Properties CEO Beau Armstrong said in the statement.

The incident occurred the same day a lawsuit was filed against the hotel on behalf of two people who were injured June 10 when glass from a broken panel rained down on them in the hotel pool, CNN affiliate KXAN-TV reported.

According to the lawsuit, the hotel had been warned of the problem before the incident but failed to respond, KXAN reported.

Just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, three panels fell from the south side of the building, a day after panels fell on cars parked below on 3rd Street, KXAN reported.

The W Hotel in midtown Atlanta was the site of a fatal accident on May 28, when two women crashed through a 10-floor window and one fell to her death. According to a preliminary investigation, the friends were "play fighting" when they smashed into the window and fell.

In the days following that incident, an Atlanta police spokesman said in a statement officers were not looking at the glass in the windows as a factor and had "no reason to believe this was anything other than a tragic accident."

In a statement Tuesday, W Austin stressed that the Austin and Atlanta incidents were "completely unrelated."

"They involve two dissimilar types of buildings that were built at different times," the statement said. "The incident at the W Austin involved balcony glass on empty condos above the hotel and the incident at the W Atlanta Midtown involved a guestroom window."

CNN

Police search Kabul hotel after Taliban attack kills 10 (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan police sifted through one of Kabul's landmark hotels room by room on Wednesday for any more casualties or security threats after an overnight assault by Taliban suicide bombers killed 10 Afghan civilians and police.

The eight 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 brazen raid came only a week after President Barack Obama announced a phased withdrawal of combat troops to 2014, and it raised more doubts about the ability of Afghan security forces to battle insurgents.

It needed a NATO helicopter to finally finish off the attackers, and NATO trainers helped oversee the Afghan police response to the raid.

After several explosions, attackers entered the hotel late on Tuesday and made their way to the ballroom, a hotel receptionist said.

Some carried tape recorders playing Taliban war songs and shot at anyone they saw. Guests jumped from second and third floors to escape, the receptionist told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

"The police are still searching room by room to see if there are any casualties or any threats," Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi told reporters.

Eight people were wounded in the attack, according to the Interior Ministry. Two policemen were among the 10 dead.

There have been insurgent attacks at a hotel, guesthouse and a supermarket in Kabul over the past year, although the capital has been relatively quiet compared with the rest of the country.

The timing of the attack, suggested similarities with other raids meant to show the Taliban retain the ability to strike at will despite gains made by NATO-led troops over the past 18 months.

Some guests included provincial governors attending a conference due to begin on Wednesday over the transition of civil and military responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans, two Afghan officials said.

Last week, Obama announced plans for an initial withdrawal of 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, with another 23,000 to leave by the end of 2012, sparking concern the Afghan security forces were not ready to take over.

But President Hamid Karzai said the plan stood.

"This insurgent attack cannot stop our security transition process," Karzai said in a statement.

LATE-NIGHT ATTACK

Hours after the attack began, some foreign hotel guests were driven away in diplomatic vehicles while others waited on a street outside the hotel as the sun rose over Kabul.

Reuters witnesses heard at least seven blasts over the course of more than five hours, with bursts of gunfire heard.

Some insurgents were shot dead by police while others blew themselves up.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several fighters from the Islamist group had attacked the hotel.

Mujahid, who spoke to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, said heavy casualties had been inflicted.

The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties in attacks against Western and Afghan government targets.

One blast was heard at the start of the attack and then three more about an hour later, one of the Reuters witnesses said. Bursts of gunfire were heard over the same period and flares lit up the sky.

Reuters television footage showed police firing tracer rounds into the air as other officers moved through the hotel.

Power was cut in the hotel and in surrounding areas after the attack.

The hotel, built on a hillside in western Kabul with fortifications around it, was for years the city's main hotel and is often used for conferences and by Westerners.

Violence has flared across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May.

The last big attack on a major Kabul hotel used by foreigners was in January 2008, when several Taliban gunmen killed six people in a commando-style raid on the city-center Serena hotel.

The increase in violence comes as NATO-led forces prepare to hand security responsibility to Afghans in seven areas from next month at the start of the gradual transition that will end with all combat foreign troops leaving by the end of 2014.

The two-day conference to discuss the transition was due to begin in a government building in the center of the city on Wednesday. Officials said the conference would go on despite the attack.

Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 the worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Omar Sobhani and Ahmad Masood; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Alleged Starbucks voyeur found dead in hotel

Eric Arthur Efaw, 44, was found dead in a hotel, days after his arrest in connection with a hidden camera in a Starbucks.Eric Efaw was found dead in a hotel room in Punta Gorda, FloridaHe was accused of placing a hidden camera in the bathroom of a StarbucksHe admitted to placing the camera in the bathroom up to 7 times Foul play is not suspected in his death

(CNN) -- A man accused of placing a hidden camera in the unisex bathroom of a Starbucks was found dead in a hotel room in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Sunday, police said.

According to preliminary investigations, foul play is not suspected.

Eric Arthur Efaw, 44, of Riverview, Florida, was arrested Wednesday after police identified him as the owner of a camera discovered in the bathroom of a Starbucks Cafe in Brandon, Florida.

The device was originally found May 31 by a Starbucks manager who removed it from under the sink of the unisex bathroom. Detectives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reviewed the device and traced it to Efaw by getting images of his license plate after he left the camera on as he walked to his car.

Efaw was charged with misdemeanor voyeurism and released Thursday on $10,000 bond. He admitted to placing the camera in the restroom and said he had done so six to seven times in the past two months, police said.

An investigation is under way into the cause of his death.

CNN

Alleged Starbucks voyeur found dead in hotel

Eric Arthur Efaw, 33, was found dead in a hotel, days after his arrest in connection with a hidden camera in a Starbucks.Eric Efaw was found dead in a hotel room in Punta Gorda, FloridaHe was accused of placing a hidden camera in the bathroom of a StarbucksHe admitted to placing the camera in the bathroom up to 7 times Foul play is not suspected in his death

(CNN) -- A man accused of placing a hidden camera in the unisex bathroom of the Starbucks where he worked was found dead in a hotel room in Punta Gorda, Florida, on Sunday, police said.

According to preliminary investigations, foul play is not suspected.

Eric Arthur Efaw, 33, of Riverview, Florida, was arrested Wednesday after police identified him as the owner of a camera discovered in the bathroom of a Starbucks Cafe in Brandon, Florida.

The device was originally found May 31 by a Starbucks manager who removed it from under the sink of the unisex bathroom. Detectives from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reviewed the device and traced it to Efaw by getting images of his license plate after he left the camera on as he walked to his car.

Efaw had been arrested at his home without incident. He admitted to placing the camera in the restroom and said he had done so six to seven times in the past two months, police said.

An investigation is underway into the cause of his death.

CNN

Blast hits hotel in Libya's rebel-held Benghazi: report (Reuters)

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – A large explosion damaged a hotel on Wednesday in the eastern rebel-held city of Benghazi, Arab satellite television channels reported.

Al Jazeera reported that a "huge" blast had gone off outside the city's Tibesti hotel. Arabiya television said the explosion appeared to have come from a car parked beside the building. Footage showed cars on fire beside the hotel.

Reuters witnesses said they saw no blood at the scene and that no casualties had been reported. The witnesses said they saw five burned cars.

The hotel, which overlooks the sea in central Benghazi, has been used for rebel news conference and the National Transitional Council, which is fighting to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has had offices there.

There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion. Given the location of the incident there will be suspicions that it was caused by a bomb.

(Writing by William Maclean)

Yahoo! News

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Egyptian exec accused of hotel sexual assault is arraigned

New York (CNN) -- An Egyptian executive accused of sexually abusing an employee at a luxury hotel in New York was arraigned late Tuesday night.

A judge set bail for Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar at $50,000 and the defendant was ordered to surrender all travel documents.

The case has been adjourned until Friday to give Omar time to hire a private lawyer, the New York County District Attorney's Office said.

Omar was represented by a court-appointed lawyer at the arraignment. CNN was unable to reach her afterward for comment.

Omar, the chairman of a salt company who once headed an Egyptian bank, is charged with sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching and harassment, police said.

The alleged incident took place at the Pierre Hotel on May 29 -- two weeks and a day after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, was accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a housekeeping employee at another swank New York hotel.

Strauss-Kahn's attorneys deny the allegations, and he has since stepped down from the IMF to focus on his defense.

Omar, 74, did not immediately make a public statement.

The accuser told police the alleged attack took place when she went to Omar's room to drop off tissues he had requested. Authorities did not release additional details.

Omar is chairman of El-Mex Salines Company.

On its website, the company describes itself as a subsidiary of Chemical Industries Holding Company, a chemical production company. It is "one of the oldest international companies in (the) salt industry," the website says.

A spokesman for El-Mex Salines said Omar was head of the Bank of Alexandria 15 years ago.

El-Mex Salines had no immediate comment on the arrest.

The Bank of Alexandria was established in 1957 as an Egyptian joint stock company, according to its website. It was privatized in 2006.

CNN's Jason Kessler and Mary Snow contributed to this report.

CNN

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NYPD: Another financial figure accused of hotel sexual assault

New York (CNN) -- The chairman of a salt company who once headed an Egyptian bank was arrested Monday in New York, accused of sexually abusing an employee at a luxury hotel.

Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar is charged with sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment, forcible touching and harassment, according to the New York Police Department.

The alleged incident took place Sunday -- a little more than two weeks after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, then chief of the International Monetary Fund, was accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a housekeeping employee at another swank New York hotel. Strauss-Kahn's attorneys deny the allegations, and he has since stepped down from the IMF to focus on his defense.

Attorneys for ex-IMF chief say police leaks have tainted trial

Omar, 74, did not immediately make a public statement.

The New York Police Department said it was informed Monday of an incident at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. Police came to the hotel, where the alleged victim told them that at about 6 p.m. Sunday she went to Omar's room to drop off tissues he had requested. "Once inside the room the victim was sexually abused," police said.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said prosecutors would not release any information until after Omar's arraignment, which could take place Tuesday.

The Pierre Hotel released a statement saying, "The Pierre's priority is the safety of our guests and staff. We take all complaints very seriously and investigate thoroughly. This incident has been formally reported to the New York Police Department and is under investigation. And we will fully comply with the investigation as requested."

Omar is chairman of El-Mex Salines Co. On its website, the firm describes itself as a subsidiary of Chemical Industries Holding Co., a chemical production company. It is "one of the oldest international companies in (the) salt industry," the website says.

A spokesman for El-Mex Salines said that Omar was head of the Bank of Alexandria 15 years ago.

El-Mex Salines had no immediate comment on the arrest.

The Bank of Alexandria was established in 1957 as an Egyptian joint stock company, according to its website. It was privatized in 2006.

CNN

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'Play fighting' leads to hotel window fall

(CNN) -- One woman was killed and another injured after they fell from a 10th-floor window at an Atlanta hotel, authorities said Saturday.

According to Atlanta Police, witnesses said the two were attending a birthday party early Saturday at the W Atlanta-Midtown.

The pair were "play fighting" when they accidentally crashed through the window around 3:15 a.m., according to a preliminary investigation, said department spokesman Officer John Chafee. It was unclear Saturday where they landed.

The Fulton County medical examiner identified the woman who died at the scene as LaShawna M. Threatt of Atlanta. The cause of death is pending. The other woman, who was unidentified, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition.

Hotel manager Michael O'Donohue said information on the investigation must come from authorities.

"The incident at the W Atlanta early Saturday is very tragic and our thoughts and prayers are with the woman who was injured and the family and friends of the woman who died in the fall," he said in a statement.

CNN's Anna M. Gonzalez contributed to this report.

CNN

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Renowned Rambler Garden Hotel

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One of the top hotels of the city of Hong Kong is the Rambler Garden Hotel that is situated at a very convenient location for all the tourists and visitors from around the globe. It was established on the 1st of February of the year 2005. Today it has almost eight hundred guestrooms including sixteen deluxe suites. Its surroundings are very beautiful with serene views and peaceful gardens. If one is on a budget then this is the place for them. With very suitable charges, the crew of the hotel gives its guest all the necessities in a very clean and immaculate environment making the stay very memorable for the guest. Although it is located at a distance form the main city, it is still connected and is only a fifteen minutes bus ride away from the center of Hong kong. The hotel strives to give its guest a relaxing environment to unwind away from the hustle and bustle of the world. The hotel has a two hundred meter outdoor swimming pool and a the well-equipped indoor clubhouse. Whether one is alone or with friends or family, there are tremendously many different activities for recreation and enjoyment.

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