Kabul: The Taliban today claimed responsibility for an attack during a concert at a Kabul guesthouse that left seven people dead including two Indians and an American. Officials said. Authorities cordoned off the area around the Park Palace guest house in Kabul`s Kolola Pushta area immediately after the attack began, at around 8:30 pm local time (1600 GMT).
Kabul Police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters early on Thursday morning that at least five people had been killed and five wounded in the attack. He said police shot dead one attacker but gave few other details.
A spokeswoman for the US Embassy confirmed that one American was killed in the attack. At least two Indian nationals were also killed and three who had lived at the guest house were rescued and sheltering at the Indian Embassy, a diplomat said.
Rahimi said at least 44 people who had been trapped inside the guest house – some there for a music concert, others who had been having dinner – were rescued by police and special forces. Kolola Pushta, home to several international guest houses and hotels, is near both the Ministry of Interior and the Indian Embassy.
Last year in Kabul, Taliban gunmen killed nine people – including three children – dining at a restaurant in the upscale Serena Hotel. Two months earlier, attackers stormed into a popular Lebanese restaurant and gunned down 21 people including three United Nations staff and a senior IMF official.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks since they announced their “spring offensive” last month, after most foreign forces pulled out at the end of last year, and claimed responsibility for the Helmand assault. Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban have been fighting to bring down the US-backed government in Kabul.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concern over gunmen storming a guesthouse popular with foreigners in Kabul and prayed for everyone’s safety. “In the aircraft I got news about the attack in Kabul. Am concerned about the situation & I pray for everyone’s safety,” Modi tweeted as he boarded Air India One here for China on a three-day visit.
“Three to four gunmen entered Park Palace guesthouse in the evening,” a senior Afghanistan security official said AFP in Kabul. Several people were reportedly trapped inside the guesthouse as the Taliban press on with their annual spring offensive.
Bureau Report
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