Taliban attacks hotel in Afghanistan, at least six killed

Taliban militants have attacked a hotel in northwestern Afghanistan, killing at least four police officers and two civilians, just days after negotiators for the group had met for peace talks in Qatar with a special US envoy.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said five suicide bombers stormed a hotel in Qal-e Naw, the provincial capital of Badghis Province, around 12:30 p.m. on July 13.

Rahimi reported that the siege at the hotel ended after nearly five hours, with three attackers killed by security forces and two others arrested. The two civilians killed had been guests of the hotel, hospital officials said.

Eyewitnesses told RFE/RL that the area was cordoned off by security forces. A witness told AFP that the attackers first hit a police checkpoint and then entered the hotel and began firing at guests.

Aziz Bek, head of the Badghis provincial council, told AFP that nearby schools were evacuated and that explosions could be heard throughout the city.

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Yusef Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the incident and said suicide attackers had stormed the hotel.

The attack came as the United States had begun a fresh push to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the nearly 18-year Afghan conflict.