Naser Shahalemi's firsthand account of the assault on the Serena hotel in Kabul (on the Global Affairs blog). Riveting read.
"We sat down, tea in hand and then it began. All of sudden BOOM! A suicide bomber dressed as police had walked into the security X-ray booth with a vest of explosives attached on his chest and blew himself up killing half of the guards in the booth.... More people come to the basement, as the terrorists have infiltrated the gym and spa area. They have shot dead the spa manager, Zina a very pleasant Filipino Girl who was just doing her job working in Afghanistan to support herself and family abroad. The Terrorists move into the gym and shot an American dead in the face on the treadmill.... Hours pass, and we are all sitting and reminiscing about what the hell just happened in front of our eyes who and what we saw. Then all of a sudden two U.S. Marines come down to the basement armed to the teeth, asking everyone if they are all right."
The hotel was a critical node in the international community working out of Kabul. Lots of FUD generated by this attack. Physical assault amplifies the impact of the bombing.
More Links (in process):"Modeling Urban Panic" using software. Follows up on an earlier post on the principles of "Fear Management" for global guerrillas. Here's more analysis from Shlok Vaidya.