U.S. Citizens Killed In Weekend Attack On Kabul Hotel, State Department Says

By Merrit Kennedy

Published January 23, 2018 at 9:51 AM CST

Men try to escape from a balcony of the Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday after an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Multiple U.S. citizens were killed and injured in the attack overnight Saturday on a luxury hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, a State Department official says.

The Taliban-claimed attack at the Intercontinental Hotel killed at least 22 people and lasted more than 13 hours, according to The Associated Press. Reports of the death toll have varied, with Reuters saying 20 people were killed and some local news outlets saying more than 40.

The State Department has not released any further information about the U.S. citizens killed and injured. It's not clear whether they were U.S. government employees or civilians not employed by the government, or how many were killed and injured.

According to the AP, Afghan officials say "22 people were killed in the attack including 14 foreigners ... Eleven of the 14 foreigners have been previously identified as working for the private Afghan airline KamAir."

"We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who were killed and wish for the speedy recovery of those wounded," the State Department official said. "Out of respect for the families of the deceased, we have no further comment."

The lengthy siege against the heavily protected luxury hotel was a sign of how volatile the situation continues to be in Afghanistan, as NPR has reported.

It's the latest in a series of large attacks in Kabul. An attack in December on a cultural center killed at least 41 people. And in May, a truck bomb in Kabul killed more than 150 people.