KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, killing at least five people, including a foreigner, and setting off a 12-hour gun battle with security forces that continued into Sunday morning, as frantic guests tried to escape from fourth and fifth-floor windows. The Intercontinental Hotel is located on a hilltop in the Bagh-e Bala area of the capital and is heavily guarded because it hosts both Afghan and foreign guests as well as official conferences. Afghan officials said that also among the dead was a telecommunications official from Farah province in western Afghanistan; Waheed Poyan, the newly appointed consul general to Karachi, Pakistan; and Ahmad Farzan, an employee of the High Peace Council, a commission created to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban and other opposition groups. Eleven of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of KamAir, a private Afghan airline, Danish said. KamAir also put out an announcement saying some of their flights were disrupted because of the attack. Six of those killed were Ukrainians, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who added that his office was working with Afghan law enforcement agencies "to clarify the circumstances of this terrorist act." "For the time being we can only confirm that one foreigner was among those who were killed in the attack," he added. Gunmen stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, killing at least five people, including a foreigner, and setting off a 12-hour gun battle with security forces that continued into Sunday morning, as frantic guests tried to escape from fourth and fifth-floor windows. The Taliban claimed the attack, which began around 9 p.m. Saturday, saying five gunmen armed with suicide vests targeted foreigners and Afghan officials. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the insurgents initially planned to attack the hotel Thursday night but postponed the assault because there was a wedding underway and they wanted to avoid civilian casualties. The attack unfolded almost six years after Taliban insurgents launched a similar assault on the property, which is not part of the Intercontinental chain of worldwide hotels. The ministry has promised an investigation into how the attackers breached security, which was handed to a private company two weeks ago. The Interior Ministry said it is investigating how the attackers managed to enter the building. During a news conference, Danish said that an initial investigation showed that six insurgents entered the hotel from the northern side and stormed its kitchen. Two of the attackers were killed by special forces on the 6th floor of the hotel. A person or persons inside the hotel might have helped the attackers gain entrance, Danish said, adding that the probe is continuing. Mumtaz Ahmad, a provincial telecommunication employee for Helmand province who survivor the attack said “I was on my way from my room toward the reception, when I the elevator door opened, I saw two-armed suicide bombers. People were escaping and the attackers were firing at them.”

Afghan security officials confirmed that 34 provincial officials were gathered at the hotel to participate in a conference organized by the Telecommunication Ministry. A fire broke out at the hotel as the fighting raged, and the sound of explosions could be heard throughout the standoff. Live TV video showed people trying to escape through windows and from the upper stories as thick, black smoke poured from the building. Capt. Tom Gresback, spokesman for NATO-led forces, said in a statement that Afghan forces had led the response efforts and that no foreign troops were hurt in the attack, according to initial reports. He said that according to initial reports, no foreign troops were hurt in the attack. Neighboring Pakistan also condemned the "brutal terrorist attack" and called for greater cooperation against militants. Afghanistan and Pakistan routinely accuse each other of failing to combat extremists along their long and porous border. Afghan forces have struggled to combat the Taliban since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014. They have also had to contend with a growing Islamic State affiliate that has carried out a number of massive attacks in recent years. In other violence in Afghanistan this weekend, insurgents burst into a home in Balkh province in the north where several members of a pro-government militia were gathered late Saturday, killing 18 of them, said Gen. Abdul Razeq Qaderi, the deputy provincial police chief. Among those killed was a tribal leader who served as the local police commander, he said. In the western province of Farah, a roadside bomb killed a deputy provincial police chief and wounded four other police early Sunday, according to Gen. Mahruf Folad, the provincial police chief. In the western province of Herat, a roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying 13 civilians, killing all but one of them, said Abdul Ahad Walizada, a spokesman for the provincial police chief. No one immediately claimed the attack, but Walizada blamed Taliban insurgents, who often plant roadside bombs to target Afghan security forces.
Six insurgents kill at least 18 people, including 4 Afghans and 14 foreigners, in a 13-hour gun battle. The Afghan Interior Ministry says that the siege ended when the last gunman was shot dead. NATO reports that "no foreign troops" died. The Taliban claim that they sent five suicide bombers armed with hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles. The Afghan government blames the attack on the Pakistan-based Haqqani network.