Security forces kill four Taliban gunmen before they could storm Kabul guesthouse

Security forces killed four Taliban gunmen in a six hour overnight gun battle in the Wazir Akbar Khan district in Kabul – the area is home to a number of embassies and official buildings. The assailants had come armed with weapons like a rocket propelled grenade launcher and other weapons. As per the interior ministry there has been no civilian or military casualties.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 27 May 2015.

The Taliban has accepted responsibility for the attack.
The four attackers had one RPG launcher, three AK-47s and one grenade launcher.
As indicated by the Afghanistan's interior ministry, the target was the Heetal Guesthouse which had been attacked by the Taliban earlier in 2009 also. The guesthouse is now called the Rabbani Guesthouse which is a favorite with foreigners.
It is owned by the Rabbani family, including Afghanistan's current Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, and its former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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Suicide car attack in Kabul by the Taliban kills one Briton

In a suicide car attack by the Taliban in Kabul on a British embassy vehicle, one Briton has been killed - he was one of the five who died in the attack. An Afghan national who was working for the embassy was also killed. This has been disclosed by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
In addition, 33 others, most of them Afghan bystanders, suffered injuries when the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-packed car into the embassy’s four-wheel-drive. The injured are believed to include another Briton, a member of the security team, and five children.
According to a spokesman of the British embassy, the vehicle was not carrying British diplomats. The Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack – it has said that it "targeted foreign invading forces" and boasted that the attack has killed many foreigners.
The attack took place in eastern Kabul near the Green Village international zone and the blast had blown the roof of the 4X4 vehicle and destroyed at least four nearby cars.
The attacker was travelling in a Toyota Corolla car and has, since, been identified as an Afghan national. Reports are there of another large blast followed by gunfire in the central district of Wazir Akbar Khan – this locality is occupied by several embassies and foreign compounds. Details of fatalities are not known.
Incidentally, the majority of NATO troops positioned in Afghanistan would leave by the end of 2014 ahead of the official end of their combat role. The last of the British troops have already left in October after 13 years fighting the Taliban.
Obviously, the Afghan government would now have a difficult time to combat the threat of the Taliban and ensure, on their own, the safety of their citizens.