Gunmen on Saturday launched an attack on Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, according to Najib Danish, a spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry.
Special forces have arrived at the scene and are battling the attackers, Danish said. He did not provide details on the number of casualties.
Four attackers are in the hotel, interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. The attackers had been in the hotel kitchen, then moved to the fourth floor, an Afghan special forces commander told CNN.
Ambulance crews "are on the site, waiting for a green light to get in," the country's minister of public health, Dr. Wahid Majrooh, said.
The US State Department on Thursday warned of a possible impending attack in the Afghan capital.
"Security Alert for #Kabul, #Afghanistan: reports that extremist groups may be planning an attack against hotels in Kabul, such as the Hotel Baron near Hamid Karzai Int'l Airport," the agency tweeted.
Hotel was attacked in 2011
In June 2011, seven Taliban fighters attacked the same hotel over several hours. In the end, all seven, along with 11 other people, were dead.
The Intercontinental was developed by the InterContinental Hotels Group and opened in 1969. But it has had no association with the group since the Soviet invasion in 1979, though it continues to use the name without connection to the parent company.
Developing story - more to come
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