Afghanistan counts cost of deadliest assault on UN in fifty years

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/6454819/Afghanistan-counts-cost-of-deadliest-assault-on-UN-in-fifty-years.html

"Five United Nations staff were killed by Taliban suicide bombers at a guesthouse in Kabul on Wednesday in an attack that prompted a review of the organisation’s presence in Afghanistan.

The assault, in which the Taliban fighters disguised as police stormed the guesthouse, was the most serious on the UN during its 50 years of operations in the country. Three local security guards and three Taliban fighters were also killed.

A spokesman for the Taliban said the early-morning raid was the first in a campaign to disrupt the Nov 7 presidential election run-off between Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, condemned the assault as “despicable and brutal”.

One American was confirmed dead in the attack in which nine international staff were wounded. No Britons were believed among the dead. Many casualties were understood to be volunteer logistics workers on brief visits to Afghanistan to assist preparations for the election.

Kai Eide, the chief of the UN mission, said it had been a “very dark day for the UN in Afghanistan”, but he made clear that there would be no repeat of the UN’s withdrawal from Iraq in 2003. “This attack will not deter the UN from continuing all its work to reconstruct a war-torn country and to build a better future for all Afghans. We will remain committed to the people of Afghanistan,” he said.

However, UN staff were banned from all movement across the country and told to keep an overnight bag ready in case of evacuation. “This has been a really serious attack, probably the most serious in all our time in Afghanistan in the past 50 years,” a spokesman said. “Changes will have to be made.” ....