Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul guesthouse used by a US-based aid group and held four foreigners hostage for several hours on Friday, just eight days before Afghanistan holds a presidential election that the militant group has vowed to derail.
Kabul is already on high alert and people across the country are on edge ahead of Saturday’s vote, which the hardline Islamist movement has denounced as a Western-backed sham.
The siege of the walled compound, which is also home to a small church, lasted several hours before Afghan security forces killed the last remaining Taliban gunman holed up inside.
Photo: Reuters
At least one Afghan child was killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the building and the insurgents forced their way in. There were no foreign casualties.
A witness saw about 20 people being evacuated from the guesthouse in an upmarket residential area of Kabul, many looking frightened and shocked.
“The fight is over. The five attackers are dead,” Qadam Shah Shaheem, commander of 111 Military Corps Kabul, told reporters.
“One detonated his car loaded with explosives; three others detonated explosives attached to their bodies inside the building, and one was shot by security forces. All four foreigners are alive and safe now,” he said.
The country manager of an organization using the guesthouse said four people had been held hostage by the Taliban, as their colleagues made frantic phone calls to establish whether they were alive.
“I can confirm that it was attacked and that there are just four people” inside, Hajji Mohammad Sharif Osmani said. Osmani is country manager of Roots of Peace, a US-based group involved in de-mining and other projects in Afghanistan. “The rest of the guys are outside,” he added.
US Department of State spokeswoman Marie Harf said there had been two US citizens in the guesthouse, and both were safe. She said she did not know whether they had been among those held hostage.
“We condemn this attack on Roots of Peace ... an organization that only seeks to help Afghans improve their lives and their livelihoods,” Harf told a regular news briefing in Washington, adding that the organization is supported by the US government.
“Again, the Taliban’s actions demonstrate the growing distance between them and the Afghan people,” Harf said.
“A large majority of Afghans reject what the Taliban is trying to sell them. They reject this kind of violence and fear and intimidation and want to go to the polls,” Harf said.
The attack was a chilling reminder to Afghan voters and foreigners of the kind of assault the Taliban are capable of mounting in the heavily guarded Afghan capital, after their leaders ordered fighters to disrupt the election.
Violence has spiraled in Afghanistan in recent weeks, with almost daily explosions and gunfights around the country.
Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked an election commission office in Kabul on Tuesday last week. Meanwhile, nine people — including an AFP journalist and an election observer — were killed in an attack on a highly fortified hotel in the capital.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday’s assault, saying in a statement that the target was a foreign guesthouse and a church.
The country of 30 million is holding an election to choose a successor to outgoing Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from running for another term.
It will be seen as a major test by foreign donors who are hesitant about bankrolling the government after the bulk of NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan withdraw later this year.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was