FOREIGN CIVILIANS TARGETED
Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and Australian embassy staff were in the hotel at the time, but were unhurt. Stoere was cutting short his visit and leaving Kabul on Tuesday instead of Thursday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK said.
"It has a big impact on perceptions of what it's like to be a Westerner in Kabul. But I think what is much more problematic is the style of attack, because it did seem to be pretty professional, certainly well-planned," said a senior Western diplomat. "The Taliban are usually amateur compared to this."
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the attack would not deter Norway from its work in Afghanistan, where the country has about 500 soldiers as part of a NATO-led force.
"What stands out about this attack is that it was 100 percent concentrated on foreign civilian targets ... in that sense it is unique," said a Western security analyst.
Western aid workers would be reviewing security precautions, but would have to wait and see if this was part of a new pattern of attacks or a "one-off" incident.
Taliban rebels, fighting to overthrow the pro-Western Afghan government and eject 50,000 foreign troops, have increasingly turned to suicide bombs with more than 140 such attacks in 2007, killing more than 200 civilians.
But the proportion of Western troops killed by suicide bombs has gone down as NATO soldiers have deployed better armed vehicles and improved their defences, security analysts say.
Attacking Western civilians also has greater propaganda value for the Taliban.
"If it was aimed at taking them to the top of the news bulletins then it was very successful, you are just not going to achieve that these days by attacking an American military convoy," the Western diplomat said.
Afghans were also worried that the attack on the Serena Hotel, surrounded by high walls in the centre of Kabul, next to the presidential palace, indicated a deterioration in security.
"The international community is in Afghanistan to build security for the people, but now we can see they are not even able to ensure their own safety," said Mohammad Shaker, another resident of the city.
