KABUL: Fourteen people, including two Pakistanis and at least seven other foreigners, were killed in a Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse that trapped dozens attending a concert and triggered an hours-long standoff with Afghan forces, officials said on Thursday.
Four Indians, an American, an Italian and a British-Afghan dual national were among the foreigners 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 overnight siege on the Park Palace. Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi earlier said five people including foreigners and Afghans were killed in the attack, but deaths confirmed by overseas governments saw the toll of foreigners rise.
“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.
“The attack was planned carefully to target the party in which important people and Americans were attending,” the militants said in a statement.
The assault, which lasted around seven hours and triggered explosions and sporadic bursts of gunfire, comes as Afghan forces face their first fighting season against the insurgents without the full support of US-led foreign combat troops.
Kabul deputy police chief Sayed Gul Agha Rohani said the siege ended when Afghan security forces killed three assailants, but Rahimi gave a conflicting number of attackers.
“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.
“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.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to offer his condolences, saying “we are one when it comes to fighting terror”.
Earlier in a tweet, Modi had said he was “concerned about the situation & I pray for everyone’s safety”. DNA

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