Two Norwegians injured in Afghanistan

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 14 – Two Norwegians are among the injured on Monday in an explosion and firing attack at a luxury hotel in Afghan capital Kabul, according to reports reaching here from Oslo.

A Norwegian delegation headed by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere arrived in Kabul earlier on Monday and lived in the Serena Hotel. They were hit by the explosion and firing attack, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Norwegian foreign minister avoided injury and was rushed into a bomb shelter under the hotel, the statement confirmed.

But a journalist for Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet and an employee of Norway’s foreign ministry were shot and were being treated by U.S. soldiers who rushed to the scene, the statement added.

Norway has around 500 troops in Afghanistan. Norwegian Foreign Minister Stoere is due to announce Norway’s decision to boost it said to the war-torn country by 50 percent, to around 750 million Norwegian kronor (about 140 million U.S. dollars) a year at Kabul.

The suicide explosion and gun-fighting at Serena Hotel killed four hotel employees and injured six other people on Monday evening, according to Afghan Interior Ministry.