CNN
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Gunmen attacked a hotel in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing three people and injuring many others.
Police chief spokesman Khalid Zadran said the attack began around 2:30 pm local time in Charenau, a commercial district in Kabul with civilians inside the building.
A witness who lived nearby told CNN that he saw a shootout erupt after gunmen attacked the hotel.
Police dispatched security forces to the scene and launched an operation to clear the area. The attack ended with all three shooters killed and hotel guests safely evacuated, according to a tweet by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid on Monday.
Mojahid added that no foreigners were killed, but two foreigners were injured after jumping from a rooftop.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that five Chinese nationals were among the injured.
A video posted on Twitter by a journalist in Kabul and reviewed by Reuters showed smoke rising from one of the floors amid gunshots.
A Kabul emergency non-profit later tweeted that it had received 21 casualties, including three who died on arrival at a hospital located near the attack.Three attackers were killed.
The attack came a day after the Chinese ambassador met with Afghanistan’s deputy foreign minister to discuss security-related issues and ask them to pay more attention to protecting the embassy.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said the attack occurred near a Chinese guest house and the Chinese embassy in Kabul was closely monitoring the situation.
Afghanistan has seen several bombings in recent months, including an attack on the Pakistani embassy earlier this month and a suicide bombing near the Russian embassy in September. Both attacks were claimed by Islamic State.
