Kabul shootout over, 12 killed

Wed Oct 28, 2009

A deadly attack on a guesthouse in central Kabul has ended with the deaths of three gunmen and six foreign UN employees staying at the hostel, an Afghan official has said.

"Three suicide bombers have been killed during the police operation, they were armed suicide bombers," Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP on Wednesday.

The operation ended at about 8:30 a.m. (0400 GMT). Two Afghan security personnel and a civilian also died.

He also said that six foreign UN workers were killed and another five wounded during the shootout at Bekhtar Guesthouse in central Kabul's busy Butcher Street area.

The nationalities of the UN staff members were not clear.

Militants also fired rockets at the luxury Serena Hotel. No casualties were immediately reported, but about 100 people inside at the time were taken to secure rooms as smoke filled the lobby, Afghan police said.

The attack came amid rising tensions in Afghanistan ahead of the presidential runoff scheduled to be held on November 7, and after a string of high-profile suicide attacks in recent months.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the hostage taking, saying it was the 'first step' in a campaign to disrupt the second round of Afghan presidential elections in 10 days' time.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109814.html.