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Eight killed by suicide car bomb at Kabul hotel
Ed Harris15 Dec 2009
At least eight people were killed today when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
The blast, which injured 40 people, rocked the main diplomatic area, delaying a conference to discuss anti-corruption measures attended by president Hamid Karzai.
The wreckage of the car was left in flames outside the Heetal Hotel, which is used by foreigners. The hotel is across the street from the home of a former vice-president, Ahmad Zia Massoud, brother of the late anti-Soviet guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. His home was heavily damaged and a police source said he may have been the intended target.
Nearby houses in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, home to government officials, international organisations and diplomatic residences, were also damaged.
A witness sawa black four-wheel drive vehicle near the hotel. "It drove very slowly to the checkpoint of the hotel," said Hamayun Azizi, 22. "And then it blew up."
The first of 500 extra British troops to be deployed to Afghanistan arrived today. Soldiers from The 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh landed at 5.05am local time.
