Avoid Hotels in Kabul, US and UK Warn Citizens

The United States and the United Kingdom have warned their citizens in Afghanistan to avoid hotels due to security threats.

The US State Department on Sunday issued a Security Alert calling on US citizens to avoid traveling to the Serena Hotel, a luxury hotel popular with foreigners in Kabul which was attacked by the Taliban in 2008 and 2014. The warning also recommended that “US citizens who are at or near the Serena Hotel should leave immediately.”

“In light of the increased risks you are advised not to stay in hotels, particularly in Kabul (such as the Serena Hotel),” Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a warning released on Sunday.

The warnings come days after at least 72 people were killed in an attack on a mosque in Kunduz; the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for that attack.

Among the foreigners left in Kabul since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban are journalists and some workers.