Two killed in Taliban raid in Kabul, Camp Bastion under fire

(Reuters) - Afghan security forces overcame Taliban insurgents attacking a guest house for international aid workers in Afghanistan's capital on Saturday and were still fighting gunmen inside former U.S. and British base Camp Bastion.

Foreign troops left the camp in the south of Afghanistan just a few weeks ago.

At least two civilians were killed in the second attack in three days on expatriate aid workers' housing in Kabul. One Taliban fighter was killed when his suicide vest exploded and the other two attackers were shot, Qadam Shah Shaheem, commander of the Afghan army's 111 Military Corps Kabul, said.

Eight people, including two foreigners, were rescued from the building in Kabul's western Karte Seh district during the four-hour gunbattle.

Two bodies were found on the lower floors, but their identities were not known, Shaheem said.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said in a statement that one was Afghan and one was a foreigner, but he did not give the nationality.

The Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility, with a spokesman saying in a statement that their fighters had targeted a Christian organization seeking to convert Muslims. Authorities did not know the name of the aid organization.

On Thursday, Taliban gunmen had stormed a guest house in Kabul's diplomatic quarter. Only the attackers were killed.  Read More