UN Staffers Among Dozen Killed in Kabul Attacks

Six United Nations staffers and six others were killed today when militants armed with automatic weapons, grenades, and suicide vests stormed two guest houses in downtown Kabul where international workers were sleeping. One of the dead was American. The nationalities of the others was not immediately known. Rockets hit another hotel in the capital popular with foreigners, forcing 100 guests into an underground bunker, reports Reuters.

"We woke to explosions and shooting, and then heard women screaming and crying," said a neighbor of one of the guest houses. Security guards rebuffed attackers at one guest house, but the militants seized another and took hostages until security forces regained control, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Taliban—which has vowed to attack those working on next month's runoff election—claimed responsibility for the attacks and warned of new assaults.
(More Taliban stories.)