The Taliban attackers killed 19 people in a 13-hour siege at the Intercontinental hotel in Afghanistan yesterday. Panicked hotel guests trapped on balconies on higher floors of the hotel were caught on mobile phone being lowered to safety on bedsheets which had been tied together. Meanwhile upper floors were filling with smoke from grenade blasts - and parts of the hotel were set ablaze in the melee. Some 11 of the 14 foreigners killed were employees of Kam Air, a private Afghan airline. Britain's Ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Nicholas Kay described the attack as "barbarous", adding on Twitter: "I salute the bravery of the Afghan security forces.

Source: Daily Mirror January 22, 2018 10:22 UTC