Taliban squad seizes hotel in Helmand

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Taliban fighters seized a hotel in Helmand.

KABUL, Jan 30 (Reuters): A Taliban suicide squad seized a hotel in Helmand Friday, triggering gun battles with security forces in the capital of the British-garrisoned province.
Just a day after the London summit on Afghanistan, gunmen wearing suicide vests occupied the unfinished hotel yards from the governors' offices and about two miles from the headquarters of British military and aid efforts in Afghanistan.
British helicopters and troops supported Afghan forces during an eight-hour battle to regain control of the building.
The clash came the day after international agreement was reached to set up a trust fund to coax lower-level Taliban fighters to abandon the insurgency.
Fighting broke out midmorning when insurgents wearing police and army uniforms seized the unoccupied Best Hotel, next to the Afghan national army's Sharwali ­barracks on the western outskirts of Lashkar Gah. Two rockets were also fired into the area.
Haji Abdul Satar Mirzakwal, the deputy governor, said one civilian had been killed and seven wounded. Five insurgents were killed in the battle.
Gen Shair Mohammad Zazai, the commander of Afghan forces in the south, claimed that "all the enemy elements were killed", although a Taliban spokesman said seven suicide attackers had been involved.
Commando-style attacks on high-profile targets have become a regular Taliban ­tactic. Attackers carried out a similar assault 10 days ago at a shopping centre in Kabul.
Meanwhile: The Afghan Taliban denied Saturday that its representatives had met the outgoing UN representative for Afghanistan, after reports this week that UN envoy Kai Eide had met militants in Dubai.
"The Leadership Council considers this mere futile and baseless rumours, being a machination against jihad and Mujahideen who are waging jihad against the invaders," the Afghan Taliban said in a statement posted by their leaders on their website, alemarah.info.
The United Nations has declined to comment since a UN official said this week that Eide had met Taliban representatives in Dubai on Jan. 8. Eide has denied a meeting took place on that date, but has not commented on whether a meeting might have taken place on another date.
Washington is encouraging the Afghan government to reach out to fighters to find an end to the 8-year-old war. At a conference in London this week, President Hamid Karzai repeated an invitation to Taliban leaders to attend a peace council.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton played down any role of Eide, whose term expires in March and who has not always seen eye to eye with Washington.
A statement by the Islamist group's ruling council described the reports as "futile and baseless rumours".
An unnamed UN official said the meeting took place in Dubai on 8 January, but Mr Eide has denied meeting on that date and refused to comment on other dates.
Taliban spokesmen have repeatedly said they have no interest in talking to Mr Karzai's government. And there was a strong denial of any talks with the UN.