At least 16 dead as Kabul standoff ends

OK Obama, tell us again how the Taliban is on the run and almost powerless.  When a terrorist rabble can attack a hotel in a major city and hold it for 12 hours, the terrorists are certainly are not on the run.  When the coalition finally leaves at the end of 2014, Afghanistan will become an Islamic nightmare of fanatical repression and imposition of the most radical form of Islam. 

All that has happened in the previous 20 years will seem mild compared to the brutality and rigid imposition of Sharia law. 

Afghanistan as we know it will cease to exist.

FROM BIGPONDNEWS.COM:

At least 16 dead as Kabul standoff ends

Friday, June 22, 2012 » 08:39pm

A 12-hour siege by Taliban militants at a lakeside hotel on the outskirts of Kabul ended on Friday, with at least 16 people dead.

The militants armed with guns and rockets attacked the Spozhmai Hotel overnight, seizing dozens of hostages including women and children. Kabul police said the fifth and final attacker was killed at 1700 AEST on Friday, ending the stand-off.

The Afghan interior ministry said 16 people, including women, were killed by the attackers. Twelve of them were civilians, three were hotel guards and one was a police officer, spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

The Spozhmai is a haunt of the wealthy Kabul elite and on Thursday nights -- the start of the Afghan weekend -- is usually packed with families and mixed groups of men and women.

The Taliban attacked at around 11.30pm on Thursday (0500 AEST Friday), when a group armed with rockets and Kalashnikov rifles stormed the hotel, said police.

At least one of the attackers detonated an explosive suicide vest, said Mohammad Zahir, the head of Kabul police criminal investigation department.

Article continues HERE.