3 guesthouse attackers killed: Salangi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Three suicide bombers were killed by police during an overnight attack on a foreign guesthouse in the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic district of Kabul, a senior Ministry of Interior official said on Friday.

One of the attackers exploded his suicide vest at the entrance to the guesthouse of the International Relief and Development Inc (IRD), a nonprofit organisation, at about 7:20pm. The ensuing firefight ended at midnight with the killing of the last suicide attacker.

Deputy Interior Minister Gen. Ayub Salangi told reporters a Nepalese guard was wounded during the five-hour battle. The assailants were equipped with light and heavy weapons, he said, adding two attackers were killed during a firefight with security forces.

As usual, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the group attack. Their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a large number of foreigners had been killed and wounded. The group attack began at about 7:20pm.

Salangi said security agencies were still investigating how the assailants entered the high-security guesthouse. “The assailant who blew himself up close at the back of the building let two of his associates enter the building. The last attacker was killed at 12:00 clock.”

Sporadic gunfire and grenade blasts erupted for at least 45 minutes after the initial bombing. Also on Thursday, a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed car into a British embassy vehicle in Kabul, killing one British bodyguard and five Afghans.

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