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TechnoratiIndians, Europeans dead in Taliban attack in Kabul
Four Indians, a Frenchman and an Italian were among at least 17 people killed by a Taliban suicide attack in the centre of Kabul on Friday, officials say. Taliban statements imply that Indians were the principal targets of the attack.
Several Indians are reported to have been wounded.
A suicide car bomber carried out the main attack on the Safi Landmark shopping and hotel complex just before dawn, officials say, while a private guesthouse is also reported to have been attacked.
Two other would-be attackers were shot dead by police, they add, playing down reports that two other gunmen entered the Safi Landmark.
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The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that eight of their fighters were involved and that some of them remained in the area. A spokesperson said that the bomb was "detonated in front of the Indians' hotel", implying that Indians were the main target.
India's influence in Kabul has increased since the 2001 invasion which drove the Taliban from power.
The attackers seem to have targeted three points in the central shopping area between the Safi Landmark and the Park Residence hotel, whose internet cafe was attacked in mid-2005.
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The attack comes as Afghanistan marks Milad-Ul Nabi, the birthday of the prophet Mohammed.
The heavily protected Afghan capital has been relatively calm since 18 January, when Taliban gunmen stormed a busy commercial area, detonating suicide vests and killing at least five people.
Friday's attack comes a day after pro-government forces raised the Afghan flag in Marjah, the town at the centre of an anti-Taliban offensive in Hemand province.
Two Nato soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Thursday, the Isaf international force says. One of them was the victim of a bomb attack during the Moshtarak offensive.
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