Taliban attack UN election workers

NY Times:

Taliban gunmen stormed a guest house in central Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing six United Nations employees and two Afghan security officials, according to U.N. officials, the police and the Afghan Interior Ministry.

One of those killed was an American security guard who battled the attackers as they came through the front gate in the predawn hours, according to an American who was staying in the guest house and who joined in the gun battle before shepherding 25 other residents to safety.

The police said one of the victims, a woman, had been shot in the head, and another burned to death. A cellphone video taken by a security official and seen by a reporter showed just the head and torso of a third victim, apparently cut in half when one of the attackers detonated his suicide vest.

Afterward, in the interior courtyard of the guest house, pools of blood lay on the black-and-white tiles.

The three gunmen were also killed, said Syed Abdul Ghafar, head of the criminal department of the Kabul police department. Police described them as young men armed with explosive vests and automatic rifles with grenade launchers attached.

Mr. Ghafar said an Afghan civilian had also been killed, although this was not confirmed by the Interior Ministry.

The Taliban claimed responsibility. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack was meant to warn people not to help in the Nov. 7 presidential runoff election between the incumbent, Hamid Karzai, and his challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.

“We have already informed that anyone who works for the second round will be targeted,” he said. “This is one of the attacks.”

He vowed there would be more Taliban attacks against election workers.

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If this is the Taliban strategy it offers an opportunity to the government and the coalition forces. Normally insurgents like the Taliban try to take advantage of the ambiguity as to the time and place of attack. If they are going to target election workers it gives us a real opportunity to thwart those attacks by having forces in place to defend the election workers and destroy the Taliban attempting to attack them. This is an opportunity to be seized.