Afghanistan hotel attack thwarted

The Afghan security service has thwarted a terrorist attack on a five-star hotel and coordinated actions in three provinces, officials said Tuesday. Shafiqullah Tahiri, a spokesman for the Afghan Intelligence Department, said three key members of one militant group were detained in Takhar province and more than 100 pounds of explosives seized, Khaama Press reported. Seven men were arrested in Kunduz province and their explosives and suicide vests seized. "Terrorists planned to launch an attack on a five-star hotel. We avoided the assassination of scores of our people and the destruction of an important installation," Tahiri said. One recent attack was aimed at a fashionable lakeside resort near Kabul, apparently selected because it was a favorite of the Afghan elite and perceived by the Taliban as a place where they engage in various vices.