A WITNESS TO the deadly attack on a hotel in Afghanistan has reported that local police and security forces fled after arriving on the scene

Taliban insurgents carried out a deadly attack and five-hour long siege on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul early on Wednesday.

The incident left a total of 21 attackers and victims dead in the five-storey hotel involved insurgents blowing themselves up and shooting dead guests in the hotel frequented by foreigners, local politicians and international gatherings.

In total local police said that 12 civilians, including a Spanish pilot, were killed at the hotel as well as all nine insurgents.

The siege was eventually ended when NATO helicopters opened fire on the roof of the hotel where militants had taken up positions.

Aftwerwards, NATO was quick to praise the efforts of Afghan security forces but shocking stories of the deadly attack have emerged.

Nazeer Amiri told the Los Angeles Times how insurgents sprayed bullets, killing several diners in the restaurant where he had been enjoying a meal.

When the police arrived, he urged them to shoot at the militants but to no avail:

They ran away and left us there! I saw some of the security forces flee with their weapons.

I was begging them to give me their guns, so I could shoot back.

His story is also quoted in the New York Times, where he describes what happened next:

I said, ‘Why don’t you shoot? Shoot!’ But they just said, ‘Get away from them.’ And we all ran together.

The paper reports that the incident has shaken public confidence in the ability of Afghan forces particularly the police to assume responsibility for security in the coming months and years as the US draws down its forces in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, US president Barack Obama warned that “our work is not done” following the siege, the Telegraph reports.