OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs says Canadian officials in Kabul and Ottawa are working to get more information after a guesthouse in the Afghan capital was stormed by armed gunmen.
Amin Habi, a U.S. citizen from Los Angeles, told The Associated Press that a party was going on at the hotel to honour a Canadian when the gunmen stormed the Park Palace Hotel in Kabul on Wednesday.
An Afghan government official said 14 people were killed, including an American, four Indians and four other foreigners. Five Afghans were also among the dead. Six people were wounded and 54 others rescued from the guesthouse.
Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Caitlin Workman told The Canadian Press in an email late Wednesday that “all staff at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul are safe and accounted for.”
However, Workman had no information as to the nature of the event at the hotel or if other Canadians were involved.
The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for one of the most audacious assaults by insurgents in the Afghan capital since the start of their spring offensive.
Hours after the standoff began, fire trucks arrived at the scene, with firefighters saying they were called in to clear and secure the area. A number of people were seen leaving the building, but firefighters had not yet gone in.
– With files from The Associated Press
Comments