Kabul : At least six foreigners were killed in a Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse that trapped dozens of people attending a concert and triggered an hours-long standoff with Afghan security forces, officials said on Thursday.
Four Indians, an American and an Italian were killed in the overnight siege on the Park Palace, which was about to host a performance by a well-known Afghan singer. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the seven-hour assault, which triggered explosions and bursts of gunfire. It comes as Afghan forces face their first fighting season against the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.
Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi earlier said five people including foreigners and Afghans were killed in the attack, and at least five others wounded, but deaths confirmed by foreign governments saw the toll rise above that figure. “Fifty-four people were rescued by security forces,” Rahimi added after a large number of armed personnel swooped on the guesthouse, located in an up-market district and popular with international aid agency workers.
An Indian foreign ministry official said said that unfortunately four Indians have died in the attack as per the information we have so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken with Aghan President Ashraf Ghani to offer his condolences, saying “we are one when it comes to fighting terror,” he added.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims at this time. Out of respect for the families of those killed, we have no further information at this time,” US embassy spokeswoman Monica Cummings said. The Taliban, which has stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets, said in a statement that the attack was carried out by a single gunman and planned carefully to target the party in which important people and Americans were attending.
Afghan police gave conflicting accounts of how many gunmen were involved. “So far we have identified one attacker, but we are looking to see if there were more. We are trying to find out the circumstances in which the attack took place. We need more investigation,” Rahimi said.
