Taliban kill two Britons in Afghanistan restaurant attack

Gunmen stormed into the restaurant and sprayed customers and kitchen staff with bullets, after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance. The gunmen held out in the restaurant before they were shot dead by Afghan police.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack on the Lebanese restaurant favoured by foreigners in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which hosts many embassies.

Del Singh, an aid worker and Labour MEP candidate, and Simon Chase, from Northern Ireland working with the EU Police Mission in Afghanistan, were two Britons killed in an attack that also killed the head of the International Monetary Fund in Afghanistan, Wabel Abdallah, and four United Nations staff.

“You can imagine the effect it has had on staff members here,” UN spokesman Ari Gaitanis told Reuters.

The American University of Afghanistan said two of its US employees died in the attack on La Taverna du Liban, a popular dining spot whose charismatic owner, Kamal Hamade, was also killed. Two Canadians and a Danish citizen are also reported dead.

Escaped through the roof

Several kitchen staff survived by fleeing to the roof, where they hid until they were rescued by police. One of the survivors, Suleiman, who worked as a cook at the restaurant, said he escaped from the gunmen after hearing the explosion outside. “I went to the roof and stayed with my back to the chimney for two or three hours. Later Afghan police came and took me out.”

Ed Miliband commiserated Mr Singh’s family on Twitter. Mr Singh worked for the UN and the UK government’s Department for International Development.

My thoughts are with the family and friends of Del Singh who was killed in yesterday’s deplorable and tragic suicide bomb in Kabul.

— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) January 18, 2014

A Taliban spokesman said that the attack was revenge for an airstrike that had killed eight civilians in Parwan province this week. Afghani President Hamid Karzai gave a statement on Saturday condemning the attack, but used the opportunity to say that the United States had not done enough to fight “terrorism”.

“If NATO forces led by the United States of America want to be united and partner with the Afghan people, they have to target terrorism,” he said in a statement. Karzai is upset with Washington, believing it could do more to persuade the Taliban to begin direct peace talks with his government.

The attack came as most foreign forces prepare to leave Afghanistan this year after more than a decade of war and almost daily attacks.

Security concerns have been rising ahead of an April presidential election when Afghans will choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, an event likely to be targeted by the Taliban insurgents.