• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UN Staff, Others Killed In Kabul; Blasts Rock Hotel

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 28.10.2009 12:25

Twelve people, including six foreign UN workers, were killed in Kabul when armed men stormed a guest house compound used by UN staff early on October 28.

The dawn attack has raised questions and fresh concerns about security for a presidential election run-off due in 10 days.

The UN said nine of its staff were injured in the attack, claimed by the Taliban who said it was the "first step" to disrupt the November 7 presidential runoff. The nationalities of the dead are not known, but officials said one U.S. citizen was among the casualties.

Afghan police said the three attackers, two Afghan security personnel, and an Afghan civilian were also killed.

Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman in Afghanistan, described the attack as a well-coordinated assault by gunmen on a compound that was separate from any military base.. "Three armed attackers, including at least one suicide bomber, attacked a private guest house here in Kabul which is approved for use by United Nations personnel,” Siddique said. “The gunmen entered the guest house and fighting ensued."

The attackers reportedly wore police uniforms to secure entry into the guest house.

Correspondents report seeing at least one badly burned body being carried out of the building after the shooting stopped. Officials said one female guest was missing inside the building, which was covered by bullet holes and badly damaged -- its walls charred and windows shattered.

Interior Ministry spokesman Zamarai Beshari told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the area where the attack took place was considered relatively safe, and that there were not many security forces in the neighborhood. "We have already started our investigations and other immediate details related to this case will be disclosed soon," Beshari said.

Later, the bodies of three of the suspected suicide bombers, apparently ripped apart when they detonated their explosives, could be seen lying inside the compound.

Abdul Ghaim, a policeman at the scene, told Reuters: "We think [the militants] are Pakistani."

Second Attack

In another sign of the growing reach of militants, rockets also were fired at a foreign-owned luxury hotel near the presidential palace in Kabul on October 28, forcing more than 100 guests into an underground bunker.

The Kabul attacks come a day after eight U.S. troops were killed in southern Afghanistan in the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the start of the war eight years ago.

Meanwhile, the White House announced President Barack Obama is to meet U.S. military chiefs on October 30 to discuss whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The White House said the meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff is to be among the last in the decision-making process.

Ahead of that decision, "The New York Times" reported that the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai had been getting regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency and was a suspected player in Afghanistan's opium trade.

Ahmed Wali Karzai was quoted as denying the report and the CIA neither confirmed nor denied the reported payments.

Across The Border

The Kabul attacks took place as a bombing in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar killed at least 80 people.

Peshawar, a teeming metropolis, is a gateway to Pakistan's northwest tribal belt -- where the military is continuing a major offensive against Pakistani Taliban militants blamed for some of the worst carnage in the region.

At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad vowing a new page in U.S.-Pakistan relations. The deadly explosion in Peshawar occurred just as she was beginning her talks with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Clinton said the Taliban attacks in Pakistan are "cowardly," suggesting that militants use violence because they are afraid that their goals are be rejected by the majority of people in Pakistan.

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this report. With agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Four_UN_Staff_Killed_In_Kabul_Blasts_Rock_Hotel/1862881.html

Copyright (c) 2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.