At Least 8 Killed in Taliban Attack in Afghan Capital

Suicide bombers target British Council site

Video

Kabul: 8 killed in suicide attack (NBC Nightly News, Aug. 19, 2011) — Taliban fighters carried out a suicide attack on Britain’s cultural center in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday. At least eight people were killed in the assault and firefight. NBC’s Harry Smith reports. (00:21)

Aug. 19, 2011

KABUL— Taliban suicide bombers stormed a British compound in an upscale Kabul neighborhood shortly after dawn Friday, killing at least eight people during an eight-hour firefight as two English language teachers and their bodyguard hid in a locked panic room.

The assault came on the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence from Britain, and the Taliban described it as a warning to outsiders in the nearly decade-long war. The insurgents also hope to show that they remain a potent force despite taking heavy casualties from last year’s buildup of U.S. and NATO troops.

Still, the attack ended up killing mostly Afghans — five policemen and a municipal worker.

The two other victims were a security guard of unknown nationality and a New Zealand special forces soldier who was shot in the chest as he tried to free hostages, according to New Zealand defense chief Lt. Gen. Rhys Jones.The soldier was the first member of the New Zealand Special Air Service, which mentors Afghan security forces, to be killed in this country.

Sixteen others were wounded in the attack on the British Council, an international charity that gives leadership training and does other work toward a post-conflict Afghanistan.

The two language teachers — a Briton and a South African — were still sleeping at about 6 a.m. when a suicide bomber detonated explosives packed in a car outside the compound. The blast breached a wall, and another attacker rushed into the compound and blew himself up.

The two female teachers and their male British bodyguard dashed to a safe room, where they stayed as militants and security forces fought for more than eight hours with rocket-propelled grenades, explosives, machine guns and rifles. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site

Smoke and flames light up the night from a blaze at Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel after an attack by Taliban fighters and a response by Afghan security forces backed by NATO helicopters on June 29, 2011.  (Photo credit: Massoud Hossaini / AFP — Getty Images)

NATO Returns Fire in Kabul Siege (June 28, 2011)

Taliban Strikes in Heart of Kabul (Feb. 26, 2010)

Taliban Siege Rattles Kabul (Jan. 19, 2010)

Afghan War Closes in on Kabul (Oct. 28, 2009)

NATO Headquarters in Afghanistan Attacked (Aug. 15, 2009)

Mumbai-Like Strike in Kabul (Feb. 12, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

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