Insurgent attack on Kabul guesthouse

Insurgent attack on Kabul guesthouse








Afghanistan bombing
Afghan security force personnel stand at the entrance to an international logistics company that was targeted in a suicide bomb attack in the capital, Kabul.
. KABUL, Afghanistan -- Militants launched a pre-dawn attack Tuesday on a Kabul guesthouse serving U.S. engineers and military contractors, killing at least eight people as insurgents continued a step-up in high-profile assaults within the Afghan capital.
The attack occurred about 4:30 a.m. at a heavily secured compound run by C3PO, an international logistics firm that runs the guesthouse. The company also provides supplies and transport services to NATO troops in Afghanistan, and carries out construction work across the country, said an official at C3PO who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The assault began when a suicide bomber detonated his truck packed with explosives at the compound’s front entrance, said Mohammad Daud Amin, a deputy Kabul police chief. Three other suicide bombers then ran into the compound and exchanged gunfire with guards at the compound. Four Nepalese guards and an Afghan guard deployed to secure the compound were killed in the gunfire.
Afghan police arrived and after about an hour, shot and killed the three attackers, said Mohammed Zahir, head of Kabul’s criminal investigations department. Three Afghan civilians were also killed in the attack, and five others were injured. The blast also damaged nearby buildings housing other international logistics companies, Amin said.
The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. In recent weeks, insurgents have ramped up attacks on both military and civilian targets, with several of the assaults and bombings occurring in the capital.
Last week, a team of insurgents was able to get past a perimeter gate at the presidential palace compound in Kabul before being shot and killed by Afghan security forces. Three Afghan guards died in that attack. In mid-June, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in front of the Afghan Supreme Court in Kabul, killing 17 people and injuring 38 others. A day before that attack, seven militants were killed while trying to storm the military portion of Kabul International Airport.
The surge in attacks reflects the Taliban’s resolve to maintain military pressure on Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces even as the insurgent movement establishes its new political office in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar in preparation for talks aimed at ending nearly 12 years of conflict in the war-torn nation.
A rift between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and officials in Washington has held up the talks. Karzai was angered that the U.S. did not insist that the Taliban renounce violence, communicate directly with the Afghan government and recognize the country’s constitution before being allowed to enter into peace negotiations. Karzai also was unhappy that the Taliban opened its office in Doha, Qatar’s capital, under its own banner of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” and its own flag. U.S. officials say the sign and the flag have since been removed.