Updated on
Summary
Six UN staff and 3 attackers have been killed after heavily-armed Taliban fighters stormed their Bakhtar guest house in Kabul. Heavy gunfire reverberated through the streets and a large plume of smoke rose over the building in the Shar-e-Naw district as security forces battled the gunmen. Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said: The operation is over now. Three suicide attackers were killed, he told. He said six foreigners were killed and five others wounded in the attack. A UN spokesman confirmed that six UN staff had been killed, but said their nationalities were unclear. He said 20 UN staff were known to be registered at the guest house, but he was unsure how many were there at the time of the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the assault. He said it came after the Taliban issued a statement threatening anyone involved in the November 7 election between President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abbdullah. This is our first attack, he warned. Meanwhile, several rockets were fired at the foreign-owned Serena hotel near the presidential palace in central Kabul, witnesses said. A foreign national staying at the hotel said more than 100 people had been rushed to an underground bunker.
