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.