Afghan President orders full probes into weekend assault

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Findings of a preliminary investigation into the attack on a luxury hotel at the weekend were presented to President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday.

The Taliban claimed the assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.

The Public Health Ministry says 22 people were killed, including 13 foreigners. At least a dozen others were wounded.

Najib Danish, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the hotel’s security contractors were being investigated and a few suspects had been detained so far.

Interrogations were ongoing to ascertain how the militants penetrated the hotel, one security official said, without going into details.

Meanwhile, the presidential office said in a statement that senior military officials presented the investigation report to President Ghani.

After hearing the findings, the president ordered comprehensive investigations into the attack. He directed the authorities to identify possible security lapses.