Incident Summary:
05/13/2015: Assailants, including suicide bombers, stormed the Park Palace Hotel and took dozens of people hostage in Kululapustha neighborhood, Kabul city, Kabul province, Afghanistan. At least 14 people, including United States national Paula Kantor, a British, an Italian, a Kazakh, two Pakistani, and four Indian nationals, were killed and seven people were wounded in the attack. Approximately five hours after the beginning of the attack, 54 hostages were rescued on May 14th, 2015 and three assailants were killed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the incident and stated that the attack was carried out in reprisal for support for President Ashraf Ghani by the United States (US) and its allies. Additionally, the Haqqani Network claimed responsibility for the incident; the Indian government suspected that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was behind the attack.
Overview
GTD ID:
201505130007
When:
2015-05-13
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Kabul
City:
Kabul
Location Details:
The incident occurred in the Kululapustha neighborhood
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Barricade Incident) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Park Palace Hotel |
Specific Description |
Hotel |
Nationality of Target |
Afghanistan |
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Not Applicable |
Specific Description |
Civilians |
Nationality of Target |
Multinational |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
68 |
US Hostages |
1 |
Hours of Kidnapping |
5 |
Outcome |
Combination |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Weapon Details |
Explosives-laden vests, AK-47 assault rifles, and pistols were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Casualty numbers for this incident conflict across sources. Following GTD protocol, the majority reliable estimates are reported here. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Haqqani Network |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Posted to website, blog, etc.) |
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) (suspected) |
No |
Taliban |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: E-mail) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
17 Fatalities / 7 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
17 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
1 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
3 |
Total Number of Injured |
7 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Taliban claim attack on Afghan guesthouse that killed 14," Reuters, May 14, 2015. |
"British man among 14 killed in Taliban attack on Kabul guesthouse," Telegraph, May 15, 2015. |
"4 Indians Killed in Af Taliban attack," New Indian Express, May 15, 2015. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties