Inconveniently situated

Inconveniently situated

Kabul's Serena Hotel proudly describes itself in its own publicity literature as "conveniently situated in the centre of the city ... close to all the embassies and ministries" dominating a busy junction.

It was something I found far from convenient tonight when the sound of a large explosion shook the windows of my room. Looking through them I could see a large cloud of dust hanging in the lamplight of the courtyard and armed soldiers and security guards sprinting across it. Definitely too close for comfort.

Those guns were waved in my face as I attempted to go outside on the street to find out what had happened. I was to remain only an ear-witness to the event. The sound of sirens converging on the hotel, though, soon made it clear that the Serena had been the target.

As I phoned through a report to the Al Jazeera headquarters in Doha, my colleague James Bays told me a security consultant outside the hotel had seen a rocket propelled grenade whoosh past him and strike a police checkpoint at the end of the road. He'd also heard the sound of gunfire.

Looking around the courtyard it soon became apparent to both of us that there were a lot of camouflaged uniforms. Sure enough, it turned out the Afghan defence minister was "savouring the  tranquility and sumptuous food" of the hotel's main restaurant. (That publicity literature again).

After a discrete time had passed Abdul Rahim Wardak emerged into the courtyard to say that rockets didn't worry him. They were always so inaccurate.

Only that morning he had announced the Afghan National Army was to be almost tripled in strength. And everyone of them will be needed if President Karzai's promise to shoulder the main responsibility for the fight against the Taliban within three years is not to prove an empty one.

But there's a worrying point, not least for the guests of the five star Serena and its visiting VIPs: the accurate intelligence supplied to the Taliban which allowed them to launch an attack with however an inaccurate weapon - while the defence minister was sampling the delights of the hotel's buffet.