9 foreigners among 14 killed in Taliban attack in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan president on Thursday condemned the Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse the previous night that killed 14 people, including nine foreigners, and said the brutal slayings will not undermine his government's efforts to achieve peace and stability.

Wednesday's attack was the most audacious assault by the insurgents in the Afghan capital since the start of their spring offensive. The foreigners killed included an American, a British citizen, an Italian, four Indian nationals and two Pakistanis.

Gunmen stormed the restaurant of the Park Palace Hotel in Kabul as it was hosting a party for foreigners around 8:30 p.m. local time, according to Kabul police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi. The victims were killed during an hours-long siege that ended early Thursday morning.

Five Afghans were also among the dead and seven were wounded, including one Afghan policeman.

Though the Taliban have staged similar attacks in the past on Kabul hotels and guesthouses - typically extremely well-guarded locations for the ever-dwindling number of foreigners living and working here - the latest assault was a blow to Ghani's government, which has been eager to project a sense of improvement in the security situation in the capital.

But since the U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year, Afghan security forces have struggled to fend off Taliban attacks on their own.

Ghani's statement said he had spoken to the leaders of the nations whose citizens were killed. He lashed out at the Taliban, saying the "terrorists and enemies of Afghanistan cannot harm our country's relationships with other countries with these activities."

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan also condemned the assault, saying in a statement Thursday it was an "atrocity."

"Taliban statements on avoiding civilian casualties ring hollow when we set them against the latest killings," said UNAMA's human rights director Georgette Gagnon.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email distributed to media. Their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the hotel was targeted because of the presence of foreigners, including Americans there. In the claim, he said only one attacker was involved, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, a suicide vest and a pistol - not three as the Afghan government reported. The Taliban often exaggerate their claims.

The Afghan police, which kept the hotel cordoned off on Thursday, said all the attackers were killed in the shootout with security troops.

Earlier, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Monica Cummings said in an email statement a U.S. citizen was killed in the attack, although she had no further details and did not identify the victim. Cummings said the U.S. Embassy was in close contact with Afghan authorities and was working to obtain more information.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims," she said.