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Taliban: Kabul attack highlights mujahedin support

KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The Afghan Taliban published a statement Wednesday saying last week's attack in Kabul was a sign of the growing support for its cause.

The Taliban took credit for a Friday attack on a popular upscale restaurant, which counted four U.N. officials and a representative from the International Monetary Fund among the estimated 21 dead.

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"This martyrdom attack is a clear exhibition of the sympathy and support enjoyed by the mujahedin among the masses which is increasing on a daily basis and their hatred and repugnance for the invaders is escalating proportionately," the Taliban said in a Wednesday statement.

CNN quoted a statement e-mailed last week from the Taliban saying the attack was a response to an airstrike in northern Parwan province that caused civilian casualties last week.

"[International forces] should cease from killing and antagonizing human beings," the Taliban said Wednesday. "They should quickly withdraw from our soil or otherwise they should wait for more deadly and incurable attacks."

NATO-led forces in Afghanistan are preparing to end their combat obligations this year as national forces take on more security responsibilities. In a Friday statement on the attacks, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there is no justification for "such indiscriminate acts of terror and destruction."

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