Five arrested over Kabul Intercontinental hotel shooting

Local media of Afghanistan has reported the arrest of five persons in connection with the January 21 attack on the Intercontinental hotel in Kabul.

At least four Taliban gunmen attacked Kabul's landmark Intercontinental Hotel on Saturday and started shooting at guests, which went on for 12 hours.

The overnight attack killed at least 22 people, the majority of them were foreigners including citizens from Venezuela, the Ukraine, Germany and Kazakhstan and America.

About 100 people were kept hostage who later were released after the attack.

During the investigation after the attack, many issues relating to security came to the light.

A witness and a security source said that at least two of the gunmen were armed and inside the hotel before the attack began, and questions have been raised — including by the country's interior minister — over whether the militants had inside help.

Constantly under threat, Kabul also faced another deadly attack on Saturday, in which 103 were killed and 235 were wounded.

An explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a crowded area of Kabul in one of the biggest blasts to rock the war-torn city in recent years.

The Ministry of External Affairs strongly condemned the suicide-bomb explosion on Saturday.