An Afghan soldier takes position near a building occupied by Taliban militants, unseen, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. UPI/Enayat Asadi |
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KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Taliban forces attacked a foreign guesthouse in Kabul Saturday while their assault on an Afghan military base entered its third day, signaling an uptick in attacks as coalition forces leave the country.
Gunmen and suicide bombers wearing Afghan military uniforms killed at least two foreigners at a compound in a west Kabul neighborhood known as Kartei Seh. Al Jazeera reports the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted the office of a South African non-governmental organization.
A spokesman for the Afghan interior minister said three of the attackers were shot to death by security forces after hours of gun battles while another died after detonating a suicide bomb.
The Taliban characterized the office as a center for Christian conversion, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Another compound in the area serving as a guesthouse for the non-governmental organization Roots of Peace, a humanitarian group dedicated to landmine-removal and rebuilding of war-torn countries, was attacked last spring. At the time, the Taliban claimed it too housed Christian missionaries.
Meanwhile, a raid on an Afghan military base in Helmand Province entered its third day Saturday, claiming the lives of at least eight soldiers and 26 Taliban fighters. Six of the dead Taliban perished after detonating suicide bombs in the attack, according to provincial officials. The Taliban claimed online that the assault had resulted in 280 deaths and 200 destroyed vehicles.
The base, now known as Camp Shorab, was previously a British military installation called Camp Bastion. It also contained U.S. Marine base Camp Leatherneck and was handed to Afghan security forces by the British last month.
In 2012, Taliban fighters wearing U.S. military uniforms conducted an audacious assault on the base, killing two Marines and destroying several Harrier jets. The only surviving attacker was sentenced to death in September.
Saturday's incidents join a slew of recent Taliban attacks following a bilateral security agreement that would keep some NATO troops in the country beyond 2014, including in a combat role. A suicide bombing of a volleyball game on Sunday killed 45 people, and a similar attack on a British Embassy vehicle in Kabul Thursday killed six.
