At Least Five Killed in Kabul Hotel Siege; Turkish Forces Enter Syria's Afrin Region
ALLEN: We continue to follow a developing story out of the Afghan capital, a siege of an international hotel there. An eyewitness is now telling CNN he has heard more explosions at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. Government officials said earlier they had retaken control of the hotel. They say six people were killed, including a foreigner, and more than 100 others were rescued.</s>HOWELL: Just look at the image there. You see people. You see this fire that took place there in the building and people used bed sheets to try to escape, very desperate situation. Officials say all four attackers, though, have been killed. The Taliban had claimed responsibility for this attack. Let's now bring in our senior international correspondent, Sam Kiley, following the story from Abu Dhabi. It's great to have you with us this hour. Let's talk more about this. Earlier we heard that the siege that lasted for several hours, that it was over. But clearly we're hearing some conflicting reports now. What can you tell us?</s>SAM KILEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just that. They're conflicting reports. There have been eyewitnesses and local media, have reported that there have been some follow-up explosions, following the government announcement that the Afghan special forces had killed --</s>KILEY: -- the four attackers. Now the government put this attack down to the Haqqani Network, which is different from the Taliban. The Taliban have since claimed responsibility and saying that they sent five attackers into the Hotel Intercontinental to conduct this attack more than 12 hours ago. The siege went on for 12 hours. There now have been -- eyewitnesses have told CNN that there have been more explosions. It's not clear what those explosions may relate to. But there is this discrepancy not only between who is being blamed or claiming responsibility for the attack but also the number of attackers involved. Earlier on this week, the State Department had issued a warning against attacks that could follow on particularly Western occupied hotels. And sure enough that has come through. And that was also based on intelligence from the Afghans blaming the Haqqani Network back then. The two are closely allied but they are separate organizations.</s>HOWELL: It is important to point that context out, Sam. Thank you so much. Also, just for our viewers, we looked at these images of this building. I don't know if we can show the images again, because again it was just a very desperate situation for the people involved, Sam. Tell us about what was happening, this fire that took place on the top floor of this building that we see and then people just trying to get out.</s>KILEY: Yes, 153 people were evacuated, among them 41 foreigners. That is pretty good going from the Intercontinental. It's an isolated building on top of a hill. It has been attacked before, back in 2011, when a gunman did a very similar thing. They came in and began shooting and killed more than a dozen, I think over 20 people back then. So it could have been a great deal worse. These gunmen are reported to have come in through the kitchens and very quickly moved on the attack. But because the level of security in Kabul is at a very high level of threat, there are special forces on standby at all times, not only Afghan but foreign. There are British and American special forces. New Zealanders are often involved in these counterterrorism operations. Special forces move very, very quickly and we're able, it would seem, at least to isolate or to close down this attack fairly rapidly. The first three, according to Afghan spokesmen, government spokesmen, the first three attackers were killed fairly quickly and the fourth earlier on today, just two or three hours ago. But -- and this is the big but -- is it really over? We are hearing these reports of more explosions and the Taliban seemed to indicate there could be one more gunman on the loose. But I have to say, in Afghanistan, whilst the Taliban do have a reputation, actually, of telling the truth about these sorts of things, so-called Islamic State does not, for example, and the Haqqani Network are also quite prone to claiming responsibility for things they haven't done.</s>HOWELL: A lot to keep up with here. But again, the important point that we're hearing, possibly, that this may still be ongoing. I know that you're in touch with your sources, Sam. We'll stay in touch with you, our senior international correspondent Sam Kiley following the story in Abu Dhabi.</s>ALLEN: Well, Turkey says rockets fired from Syria have hit inside its territory. It's not clear who fired the rockets but the attack came one day after Turkey launched airstrikes on Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region.</s>HOWELL: The Turkish operation appears to be aimed at ousting the Kurdish YPG. Turkey says it's also targeting ISIS. The YPG are a key U.S. ally against ISIS and Turkey says they are terrorists.</s>ALLEN: CNN's Ben Wedeman is following the story for us in Egypt. He joins us from Cairo. Ben this issue highlights one of the many complexities of the Syrian conflict. And Turkey had also threatened to maybe send in ground forces and it looks like, from what we're hearing, that might be happening. What are you hearing?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie, according to the Anadolu (ph), the state-run Turkish news agency, Turkish ground forces have entered the Afrin region, which is just north of Aleppo. And we understand this operation actually began at about 5:00 pm yesterday. The Turks have dubbed it Operation Olive Branch, something of an Orwellian twist to call a military operation by that name. The entry of their ground forces was preceded by, according to both the Kurdish forces on the ground as well as the Turkish authorities, more than 100 airstrikes on targets, including one on, according to the Turkish media, one on a tunnel being used by these YPG fighters. Also this morning, as you mentioned earlier, a rocket landed in the town of Kilis, which is near -- a Turkish town near the Syrian --</s>WEDEMAN: -- border leaving one person injured. Now, of course, the Turks have launched this operation because this area, which is predominantly Kurdish, is controlled by the YPG, which the Kurds -- or rather the Turks claim is affiliated with the Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK, based in Turkey, which has been fighting a war against the Turkish state since 1984. And certainly what has raised tensions dramatically in recent weeks, Natalie, was the announcement by the United States that it would be training a 30,000-strong force from the YPG to act as some sort of border security force. President Erdogan of Turkey calling this a terrorist army and vowing that they would crush it before it went into action. Now the Afrin area is very mountainous, very woody. And so it's questionable that the Turks are really going to go dramatically inside the Afrin area. But certainly, this does complicate a situation whereby you have the -- Turkey, which is a member of NATO, an ally at least in word, of the United States, fighting the American-backed and trained and armed YPG. So complication upon complication when it comes to Syria -- Natalie.</s>ALLEN: Absolutely. Ben Wedeman, thank you, from Cairo.</s>HOWELL: Coast to coast here, in the United States and around the world live you're watching NEWSROOM. Still ahead, finger pointing and name calling and not talking about the other guy. Is there any end in sight to the U.S. government shutdown?</s>ALLEN: Also the U.S. vice president is in the Middle East trying to shore up relations with key allies in the wake of President Trump declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel. We'll a live report from Jordan as we push on.