Wednesday, October 28, 2009 KABUL: Six foreigners among nine have been killed and another five wounded in an attack on a Kabul guesthouse used by staff of the United Nations, an Afghan official said Wednesday.The United Nations confirmed earlier that six UN staff members staying at the guesthouse were killed. "Three suicide bombers have been killed during the police operation, they were armed suicide bombers," said Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the interior ministry."Unfortunately six foreigners have been killed, five foreigners have been wounded and three suicide bombers have been killed," he told media. He had no other details. An Afghan soldier by the site of the attack, in a busy shopping district near Kabul's Butcher Street, said four men and one woman were among the dead. One police officer and one intelligence officer had also been killed, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Six foreigners were among nine killed and five others wounded in the attack, which ended at 8:30 am (0400 GMT), said Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the interior ministry. "The operation is over now," he told media. "Three suicide attackers were killed."The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a fatal attack in central Kabul, saying it was the "first step" in a campaign of violence aimed at disrupting an upcoming presidential election run-off. "We claim responsibility," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told media by phone."This is the first step, as we have warned that we will disrupt the second round of the elections," he said, referring to the November 7 run-off of the presidential election.Speaking from an undisclosed location, he said three militants wearing explosives-packed suicide vests and armed with automatic weapons were involved in the raid. The attack began at around 5:30 am (0100 GMT). The Taliban have called for a boycott of the run-off, threatening violent consequences for anyone who votes.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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