One Briton was killed and five were injured in Taliban suicide bomb and gun attack on G4S security compound in Kabul
- Briton among 10 dead in Taliban attack on G4S compound in Kabul, police say
- Five other Britons were among 23 people wounded in the bomb and gun attack
- Terrorists detonated car bomb at the compound gates before storming inside
- Group said it was revenge for US airstrike hours earlier that killed at least 30
A Briton is among 10 people who were killed in a Taliban bomb and gun attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday.
The Briton died alongside five Afghan workers after the Taliban launched a bomb and gun attack on a compound belonging to British security firm G4S.
Five other Britons were among 23 people hurt in the attack which included 11 Nepalese and 11 Afghans, police sources told the New York Times.
One Briton and five Afghans were killed in a bomb and gun attack on a compound in the Afghan capital of Kabul belonging to British security firm G4S
Five Britons are also reported to be among 23 people injured in the attack that included 11 Afghans and 11 Nepalese
A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a car bomb at the gates to the compound before three gunmen stormed inside and were shot dead
A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a huge car bomb at the entrance of the compound belonging to British security firm G4S before three others stormed in.
All of the terrorists were killed in the ensuing gun battle.
Colonel Bismillah Taban, the local police chief, said the majority of those killed and injured inside the compound died in the initial blast.
Images released on Thursday show a huge crater where the gates used to stand after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives.
G4S was unable to confirm any of the details of the attack early on Thursday morning, but said the company would be putting out a statement shortly.
The British Foreign Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was in retaliation for an earlier US airstrike which killed at least 30 people, including civilians and children.
A Taliban spokesman said the attack was in revenge for an earlier US airstrike in Helmand province which had killed civilians and children
An Afghan boy who was wounded in the suicide bombing is treated at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital in Kabul on Wednesday
An injured Afghan man receives medical care after a car bomb blast which targeted British security contractor group G4S in Kabul
Afghan special forces had come under heavy fire from Taliban fighters during a night operation in Helmand province.
They then requested airstrikes against Taliban positions, prompting the Americans to swoop in.
Afghan and Western officials said 16 members of the Taliban were killed, but admitted there were civilian casualties. They put the number at 16, but locals reported 22 civilian deaths.
Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says the Taliban targeted G4S because the company offers training for Afghan security forces.
The complex attack on a well-protected site underlines how insecure Kabul remains despite efforts by the United States and the Afghan government to open peace talks with the Taliban to end more than 17 years of war.
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The insurgents’ main spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack had caused heavy casualties and had been launched in retaliation for casualties caused by security forces in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
G4S, one of the world’s biggest security groups, is one of a number of foreign security contractors operating in Afghanistan and provides guards for the area around the British embassy.
An official from the public health ministry said 11 wounded had been taken to city hospitals and reporters saw at least one dead body but gathering accurate casualty figures was hampered by the continuing fighting.
A young Afghan boy wounded receives treatment. Basir Mujahid, spokesman for the Kabul police chief, says the target of the attack was security company G4S
An Afghan injured man receives medical care at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital after a car bomb blast which targeted a British security contractor group G4S
An Afghan injured man receives medical care in hospital. Last week, more than 50 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber targeted a banquet hall
Earlier the president, who faces a re-election battle next year, told a U.N.-sponsored conference in Geneva of plans to appoint a team to seek a peace deal, which he said would take at least five years to implement.
Efforts to open talks with the insurgents have picked up following the appointment of U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, but the violence that kills thousands every year has continued.
Three U.S. service members were killed close to the central city of Ghazni on Tuesday and at least 30 Afghan civilians were killed in a U.S. air strike overnight, officials and local residents said.
Last week, more than 50 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber attacked a banquet hall where a meeting of religious leaders was taking place.
Security officials have warned that violence is likely to escalate alongside peace moves as the Taliban seeks to strengthen its position before any formal negotiations.
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