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U.N. says help came slowly

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2009

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations demanded to know Friday why it took an hour for Afghan police and NATO troops to respond to a Taliban attack on a guest house filled with U.N. staff in Kabul.

Afghan authorities denied that they were slow to respond to Wednesday's attack, and a NATO spokesman said the Afghans did not ask the international force for support.

As guests cowered inside their rooms or jumped from windows, two U.N. security officers fought with three militants who attacked the guest house at dawn Wednesday. The siege left 11 people dead, including the attackers.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said two Afghan security guards outside the house where 34 U.N. staffers lived appear to have been killed immediately in the assault, which targeted the United Nations for its role in the Nov. 7 presidential runoff election.

The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, views the balloting as a Western plot.

The Associated Press

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