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UN targeted in Kabul attack that kills12
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-29 08:18
KABUL: Taliban militants killed six UN foreign staff and six others died in an assault on an international guest house in Kabul yesterday, deepening concerns about security for a presidential election run-off in 10 days. Afghan police said 12 people in all were killed, including the UN staff, three attackers, two security guards and an Afghan civilian. A resurgent Taliban have vowed to disrupt the November 7 run-off as the US weighs whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight an insurgency that has reached its fiercest level since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. The two-hour attack on the guest house where some 20 UN election workers were staying sent people running and screaming outside, with some jumping out upper-story windows to escape a fire that broke out. One American man said he held off the assailants with a Kalashnikov rifle until guests were able to escape. One rocket struck the "outer limit" of the presidential palace but caused no casualties, and other rockets were fired at a foreign-owned luxury hotel nearby, forcing more than 100 guests into a bunker, a foreign hotel guest said. The Taliban said they had targeted the guest-house because of the United Nations's role in helping organize the run-off vote. The Special Representative of UN Secretary General in Afghanistan Kai Eide yesterday said such attacks would not deter UN activities in the post-Taliban country. Reuters-AP (China Daily 10/29/2009 page12) |
