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UN Chief Condemns Kabul killings
Source: BBC News published: 2009/10/28 19:42:17 GMT
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned as "shocking and shameless" a Taliban raid that killed at least five UN workers in the Afghan capital Kabul. Mr Ban said the UN would not be deterred from its mission there.
Spokesman for the Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid said they carried out the raid; the attack was the first step to disrupt the next week's presidential run-off election.
The head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said he could not yet give details of the nationalities of the victims, although the US embassy has confirmed one of the dead was an American.
UN spokesman Aleem Siddique told the BBC there were gunfire and an explosion outside the guesthouse as UN employees tried to flee. The building was gutted by fire.
The UN is playing a leading role in organizing the run-off vote, and the BBC's Ian Pannell in Kabul says the attack is clearly a tactic of the Taliban to prevent its staff from going about their business safely.
