Five UN staff dead as militants storm Kabul guesthouse ended, attackers dead or captured, second explosion (1st Lead)

Oct 28, 2009, 5:32 GMT

   Kabul - At least five United Nations workers were killed Wednesday when an explosion rocked a guesthouse used by the UN in Kabul and armed attackers burst in, sparking a gunbattle, a UN spokesman said.

   Other UN personnel were injured in the attack in central Kabul, Aleem Siddique said.

   Police at the scene said the firefight lasted an hour and a half and ended with all the militants killed or captured. One officer said seven people had attacked the guesthouse, which is in a neighbourhood where offices and residential compounds for expatriates are located.

   A plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area after the blast that touched off the attack.

   A second blast also rocked the Afghan capital Wednesday morning. It detonated near the Serena Hotel, Kabul's only five-star hotel, which is located near the presidential palace.

   Police cordoned off the area around the hotel, and police vehicles and fire trucks rushed to the scene.

   Who carried out the attack on the UN guesthouse was not immediately known, but Taliban militants have stormed buildings in the Afghan capital recently, including government offices and a bank a day before the August 20 presidential election.

   The Taliban has also vowed to disrupt the November 7 presidential runoff.

   An unknown number of foreign UN staff members and civilians were in the guesthouse at the time of the attack, Siddique said.