Jewish PR exec killed in Taliban attack on Kabul hotel

Glenn Selig was one of 22 people killed in a 13-hour siege by the Taliban on Saturday on the Intercontinental Hotel.

By JTA
A man tries to escape from a balcony at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel during an attack by gunmen in Kabul, Afghanistan January 21, 2018 (photo credit: REUTERS/OMAR SOBHANI)
A man tries to escape from a balcony at Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel during an attack by gunmen in Kabul, Afghanistan January 21, 2018
(photo credit: REUTERS/OMAR SOBHANI)
The president of a Florida-based public relations company and president of his Tampa synagogue was one of four Americans killed in an attack on a hotel in Kabul.
Glenn Selig was one of 22 people killed in a 13-hour siege by the Taliban on Saturday on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, the State Department announced in Wednesday.  The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said their target was foreign forces, including US troops.
Selig was in Kabul to explore a potential counter-extremism project for his public relations agency, Selig Multimedia, the Tampa Bay Times reported. He reportedly was staying at the Intercontinental Hotel.
“Glenn was in Kabul on a potential success story involving Afghanistan and its steps to battle extremism. The focus was highlighting the country’s new president and constructing a democracy forum event for Afghani women,” his company said in a statement, according to CNN.
Prior to working in public relations, Selig was a reporter and anchor in Florida markets, including Fox 13 in Tampa and WNEM-TV, a CBS affiliate in Michigan. In recent months he served as spokesman for Trump campaign adviser Rick Gates, who faces criminal charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Selig, 50, the father of two sons, was the two-term president of Congregation Mekor Shalom, a conservative synagogue in Tampa.