2011 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack

Suicide attack at the Inter-Continental Hotel 2011 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack File:Inter-Con Kabul.jpg 200px The Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul, where the attack took place War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Kabul, Afghanistan Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul 34 32 13 N 69 07 31 E inline,title 28 June 2011 12 (+9) Unknown Taliban Guns, grenades, explosive belts On 28 June 2011, a group of nine gunmen and suicide bombers attacked the Inter-Continental Hotel, Kabul. The attack and an ensuing five-hour siege left at least 21 people dead, including all nine attackers. Responsibility was claimed by the Taliban. It has been reported that the affiliated Pakistan-based Haqqani network was behind the attack. Background Sixty to seventy guests were believed to be staying at the hotel at the time of the attacks. Thirty provincial government officials were staying at the hotel to attend a briefing about the transition of security responsibilities from the U.S. Military to the Afghan security forces.NATO Helicopter Ends Siege in Kabul Hotel https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304447804576413991003487976 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 29 June 2011 Maria Abi-Habib Zia Sultani amp 28 June 2011 Most of the hotel's guests were in the hotel's dining hall at the time of the attack. Initial reports suggested that a wedding party may also have been hosted in one of the dance halls.Manager gives account of Kabul hotel attack http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/06/2011629122328109278.html Al Jazeera 29 June 2011 Safeeyah Kharsany Mujib Mashal 29 June 2011 Attack The attackers passed three security checkpoints and made their way to the rear of the hotel under concealment of thick vegetation.How the SAS defeated the Taliban http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10735590 APN Holdings NZ Limited 30 June 2011 Derek Cheng 1 July 2011 The assault on the hotel began at 10:00 p.m. local time armed with assault rifles, hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, and anti-aircraft weapons.CNN Bombers attack luxury hotel in Kabul http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/28/afghanistan.kabul.attack/ https://web.archive.org/web/20110630183006/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/28/afghanistan.kabul.attack/ dead June 30, 2011 28 June 2011 Armed Afghan law enforcement personnel fled the area and failed to engage the attackers.Reluctance to engage in hotel battle raises questions of Afghan preparedness http://www.smh.com.au/world/reluctance-to-engage-in-hotel-battle-raises-questions-of-afghan-preparedness-20110630-1gt2r.html Fairfax Media 1 July 2011 Alissa Rubin 1 July 2011 Nine attackers were captured on surveillance camera entering through the rear hotel garden where only two guards were stationed during a dinner for hotel guests. Suicide vests were detonated at the entrance to the hotel and on the second floor. Two dance halls were destroyed in the initial attack. The attackers then ascended to the fifth floor. Exchanges of weapon fire between law enforcement occurred until the early morning hours.About 13 killed in Kabul hotel attack http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/29/c_13955160.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20110702100606/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-06/29/c_13955160.htm July 2, 2011 Xinhua News Agency 29 June 2011 28 June 2011 Hotel guests were told to barricade themselves in their rooms; some escaped by jumping from the hotel's windows. Termination of the attack New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) and officers from the CRU (the Afghan National Police counter-terrorism Crisis Response Unit) ascended the first two floors, killing a militant in the process. The security forces attempted to disarm the explosive vest the attacker was wearing.Kabul hotel attack: Nato helicopters kill Taliban https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13953883 BBC 29 June 2011 28 June 2011 Commander Jamie Pennell, who led NZSAS forces during the attack, has described the attack in detail in his 2024 memoir Serviceman J.Pennell Jamie Serviceman J HarperCollins 2024 978-1-77554-238-4 first New Zealand 155–181 "Once inside the third floor, I discussed an adapted plan with the CRU squadron commander. By this time, there were CRU guys holding every floor, and that gave us the ability to start getting the guests out of their rooms and to safety." Pennell took "a smaller SAS team and a couple of CRU members" silently up the hotel's southern stairwell, telling the larger SAS group to distract the militants on top of the roof. "But, when we finally got to the top, the door to the roof had a metal bar across it with a padlock, preventing a soft entry." A charge was placed on the door and Pennell called more CRU officers up to assist in storming the roof where attackers (some wearing explosive vests) had taken up firing positions. Three combatants on the hotel roof were attacked by two of three circling helicopters coordinated by SAS Taskforce HQ.Afghan Officials: Kabul Hotel Attack Over https://www.voanews.com/a/article-10-people-reportedly-killed-in-attack-on-luxury-kabul-hotel-124676999/141475.html VOA News 29 June 2011 28 June 2011 Members of the NZSAS also provided 'helo sniping' support.2011-06-29 SAS men wounded in Kabul raid - New Zealand News https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sas-men-wounded-in-kabul-raid/IRZELC63DVEHQFJ5D3JVDCOETM/?c_id=1&objectid=10735392 2025-01-28 The New Zealand Herald en-NZ The militants may have been killed in the strike or may have detonated their vests. One U.S. Blackhawk helicopter carried International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) snipers while an MC-12W Liberty and an MQ-1 Predator remotely piloted aircraft provided critical aerial surveillance.U.S. drone and copter, coalition snipers helped Afghans http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/29/afghanistan.hotel.coalition.role/ https://web.archive.org/web/20110702190408/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/29/afghanistan.hotel.coalition.role/ dead July 2, 2011 Cable News Network 29 June 2011 Barbara Starr 29 June 2011 Afghan policemen could not be coaxed by police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi to enter the building after the attackers were killed. At one point, an Afghan intelligence official informed the press that it believed it had eliminated all but one militant. One injured suicide bomber hid in a hotel room and ambushed and killed a Spanish pilot after the declared conclusion of operations.Barack Obama warns 'our work is not done' after Taliban hotel siege https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8606417/Barack-Obama-warns-our-work-is-not-done-after-Taliban-hotel-siege.html Telegraph Media Group Limited 30 June 2011 Farhad Peikar Lianne Gutche Rob Crilly 29 June 2011 In his book Commander Pennell describes returning to the hotel to try to flush out the last attacker. The Afghan intelligence service released footage that had been taken by a NATO drone hovering over the hotel during the siege. The footage showed two gunmen on the roof on the phone to commanders in Pakistan. Their calls were recorded. One of these commanders was Badruddin Haqqani, a notorious figure on a US list of designated terrorists. Electricity to the hotel was restored after the end of military operations, and a scheduled briefing on the transition of security responsibilities from the U.S. Military to the Afghan security forces proceeded the next day. Victims Among the wounded were two NZSAS personnel, including Corporal 'Steve' David Steven Askin; five Afghan policemen and thirteen civilians.Reuters https://www.haaretz.com/news/international/suicide-bombers-attack-top-hotel-in-afghan-capital-1.370119 https://web.archive.org/web/20110630152533/http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/suicide-bombers-attack-top-hotel-in-afghan-capital-1.370119 dead June 30, 2011 Suicide bombers attack top hotel in Afghan capital Haaretz 29 June 2011 30 June 2011 Five hotel staff including one hotel security guard and a hotel chef, and three policemen were killed.Afghan attack left mass of bodies at luxury hotel http://picayuneitem.com/international/x652254345/Afghan-attack-left-mass-of-bodies-at-luxury-hotel Associated Press 30 June 2011 Associated Press 30 June 2011 Perpetrators Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid claimed Taliban responsibility for the attack and lauded the militants that killed "dozens of the foreign and local top-level officials". The Long War Journal reported that the attack was carried out by the "Kabul Attack Network". According to the Journal, the network was an ad hoc organization with insurgents and operatives from Afghan and Pakistani Taliban groups, the Haqqani network, Hizb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, and with support from Lashkar-e-Taiba and al Qaeda. The network is led by Dawood (also spelled Daud), the Taliban's shadow governor for Kabul, and Taj Mir Jawad, a leader in the Haqqani network. The Journal also stated that the organization is sometimes assisted by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.Roggio, Bill, "ISAF airstrike kills senior Haqqani Network commander involved in Kabul hotel attack", Long War Journal, 30 June 2011. The ISAF believes that the operation was supplied by the Haqqani network. Ismail Jan, Deputy to the senior Haqqani commander, was killed in an airstrike in Paktia province which borders Pakistan's FATA a day after the attack.ISAF: Haqqani network leader suspected in Kabul hotel attack killed http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/30/afghanistan.kabul.attack/ https://archive.today/20130119093219/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/30/afghanistan.kabul.attack/ dead January 19, 2013 Cable News Network 30 June 2011 30 June 2011 Awards Commander Jamie Pennell and Corporal David Steven Askin of the NZSAS 15 February 2017 Helicopter Pilot Was Decorated Soldier Scoop News https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1702/S00437/helicopter-pilot-was-decorated-soldier.htm 2025-01-28 were both awarded New Zealand's second-highest military award – the New Zealand Gallantry Star – for their role in resolving the 2011 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack. See also 2018 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack List of terrorist attacks in Kabul References Category:2011 in Kabul Category:2011 murders in Afghanistan Category:2010s crimes in Kabul Category:2011 mass shootings in Asia Category:2011 massacres in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Category:2011 building bombings Category:Hotel bombings in Afghanistan Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2011 Category:June 2011 crimes in Asia Category:June 2011 in Afghanistan Category:Mass murders in Kabul Category:2011 mass murders Category:Mass shootings in Kabul Category:Suicide bombings in 2011 Category:Suicide bombings in Kabul Category:Taliban bombings in Kabul Category:Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2011 Category:Building bombings in Kabul