11 die as gunmen storm Afghan UN guest house

TALIBAN militants wearing suicide vests and police uniforms stormed a guest house used by UN staff in the heart of the Afghan capital early yesterday, killing 11 people, including six UN staff. It was the biggest in a series of attacks intended to undermine next month’s presidential runoff election.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the early morning assaults, which also included rocket attacks at the presidential palace and the city’s main luxury hotel.

The chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack “will not deter the UN from continuing all its work” in the country.

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 toescape a fire that broke out.

John Turner, a trucking contractor from Kansas City, Missouri, said he held offattackers with a Kalashnikov until a group of guests escaped through the laundry room. Flushed and with black stains on his hands and face, Turner said the attackers appeared well organised and were able to penetrate the building, located on a residential street.

He said a total of 40 people were staying at the guest house, of whom about 25 took refuge in the laundry room at the back of the building under his protection. “I am armed. I carry an AK-47 and I kept firing it to keep the attackers away from the group I was guarding,” he said.

The group later jumped over a back wall to take refuge in a house behind the guest house, he said.

About a mile away from the guest house, one rocket struck the “outer limit” of the presidential palace but caused no casualties, presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada said. Two more rockets slammed into the grounds of the Serena Hotel, favoured by many foreigners.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as “an inhuman act” and called on the army and police to strengthen security around all international institutions.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks in a telephone call to Associated Press, saying three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the assault.

He said three days ago the Taliban issued a statement threatening anyone working on the November 7 runoff election between Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah.

UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said six UN staff were killed and nine other UN employees were wounded in the assault, which began about dawn in the Shar-e-Naw area.

Afghan police and UN officials said 11 people in all were killed, including the UN staff, three attackers, two security guards and an Afghan civilian.