Afghan men walk past the Park Palace guesthouse in Kabul on May 14, 2015.(Photo: Shah Marai, AFP/Getty Images)
The Taliban on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack on a guesthouse in Afghanistan that killed five people, including an American.
Gunmen opened fire at the restaurant of the Park Palace Hotel in the capital of Kabul as it hosted a party for foreigners at around 8:30 p.m. local time Wednesday.
Officials said the five were killed during a siege that lasted hours, the Associated Press reported. At least six people were wounded and 54 hostages were rescued.
In an email distributed to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants targeted the hotel because of the presence of foreigners, the AP said. The central neighborhood is home to United Nations compounds and a hospital.
"The attack was planned carefully to target the party in which important people and Americans were attending," the militants said, according to the AFP.
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Mujahid claimed that only one attacker armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, a suicide vest and a pistol, was involved, and not three as the Afghan government reported, the AP reported. The Taliban often exaggerate their claims.
Police said all the attackers were killed in a shootout.
Kabul police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi did not provide the nationalities of the victims. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said one American was killed in the attack, but did not release the victim's name.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Monica Cummings told AFP: "Our thoughts are with the families of the victims at this time. Out of respect for the families of those killed, we have no further information at this time."
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Amin Habi, a U.S. citizen from Los Angeles, told the AP that a party was going on at the hotel to honor a Canadian when the gunmen stormed the guesthouse.
The
Times of India reported that four Indians were killed in the attack. Amar Sinha, India's ambassador to Afghanistan, said he believed at least six of the hostages were Indian citizens, the AP reported.
U.S. and NATO forces formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of last year, after which Afghan security forces have struggled to fend off attacks by the Taliban.
The extremists launched their spring offensive — their annual campaign against the Afghan government — last month.
Contributing: Jim Michaels
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