US, UK warn citizens of threat to Kabul hotels

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US, UK warn citizens of threat to Kabul hotels

Oct 11, 2021: The U.S and Britain on Monday warned their citizens to avoid hotels in Afghanistan, after the IS claimed responsibility for a terror attack a few days earlier in which dozens were killed in a mosque.

“US citizens who are at or near the Serena Hotel should leave immediately,” the US State Department said, citing “security threats” in the area.

“In light of the increased risks you are advised not to stay in hotels, particularly in Kabul (such as the Serena Hotel),” Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office added.

The Taliban, which seized power in August and declared the country an Islamic Emirate, is seeking international recognition and assistance to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and alleviate Afghanistan’s economic crisis. But, as the group shifts from a rebel force to a governing power, they are struggling to overcome the threat posed by IS’s Afghanistan chapter.

Since the Taliban took over, many foreigners have left Afghanistan, but some journalists and aid workers are in the capital. The Serena, a luxury hotel popular with business travelers and foreign guests, has twice been attacked by the Taliban.

Once in 2014, just weeks before the presidential election, four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security, killing nine people, including an AFP journalist and members of his family and before that in 2008, a suicide bombing left six dead.

In August, during the chaotic evacuation of foreign nationals and endangered Afghans, NATO countries issued a course of warnings about a dangerous threat, telling people to stay away from Kabul Airport.

Hours later, a suicide bomber struck a crowd gathered around an airport gate, killing hundreds of civilians and 13 U.S. soldiers.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted several Taliban bodyguards, and also claimed a devastating bombing in the city of Kunduz on Friday that exploded at a mosque during Friday prayers.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, senior Taliban and US delegations held face-to-face talks for the first time in Doha, the capital of Qatar, since the US withdrawal.

The Taliban said the United States had agreed to send aid to Afghanistan, although the United States said the issue had only been discussed, and that any aid would go to the Afghan people, not the Taliban government.

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US delegation and Taliban meet in Qatar

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