Taliban bomb targets foreigners at compound

The Taliban set off a huge truck bomb at a compound housing foreign workers in Kabul yesterday.

Afghan security forces stand near the crater from a truck bomb outside a foreign hotel.

The Taliban set off a huge truck bomb at a compound housing ­foreign workers in Kabul yesterday, a week after its extremist rival Islamic State killed 80 in the ­Afghan capital.

The truck exploded at about 1.30am (6am AEST) at Northgate, a large international guesthouse close to a military base next to Kabul’s international airport.

The initial blast was followed by smaller explosions before gunmen attempted to break into the compound.

One policeman was killed and four police and army personnel were wounded before three Taliban gunmen were shot dead.

“It woke me up, and it was five miles (8km) from where I live,” British security contractor ­Michael Wilson told The Australian. “That’s how big the initial blast was, and then there were four smaller blasts.”

He was at the scene soon after the explosion and said teams of international and Afghan special forces were sent in. Sporadic firing could be heard during the night.

Mr Wilson said the compound was well fortified and guests, probably “a couple of hundred”, would have scrambled into internal safety bunkers.

“The woman who owns it is a South African,” he said.

“It is a huge mix of people — South Africans, Brits, Americans — who live there.

“They are mainly security and construction contractors.”

Kathy Whitehead, of Afghanistan’s Tolo news, said by 10am the operation was over. “All staff and guests at the hotel are accounted for and unharmed,” she reported.

The attack underscores the worsening security situation as the Taliban ramps up its annual summer offensive.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons blasted their way into the compound after the bomb went off. The Taliban is known to routinely exaggerate the toll from their attacks and he falsely claimed “100 American invaders” were killed and wounded.

Afghan commandos cordoned off all arterial roads leading to Northgate, with erratic grenade explosions and gunfire coming from the scene after daybreak.

Kabul has become a difficult and dangerous place for foreigners to work or visit. A few years ago there were dozens of restaurants in the city catering to foreign aid workers, soldiers, contractors and security personnel. Thousands since have left and only a few ­restaurants remain open, in the heavily guarded diplomatic zone.

The remaining foreigners live in fortified houses or compounds and follow strict security guidelines, aware of the constant threat of kidnappings and bombings.

Australian aid worker Kerry Jane Wilson was kidnapped in the eastern city of Jalalabad in April. It is thought she is being held captive by criminal gangs or the Taliban.

A similar Taliban attack on Northgate in July 2013 killed nine people, including four Nepalese and one Briton.

Yesterday’s attack comes after twin bombings left 80 people dead in the Afghan capital on July 23, in the city’s deadliest attack since the Taliban were ousted 2001. The bombings tore through crowds of minority Shia Hazara protesters as they gathered to demand a major power line be routed through the central province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan.

That attack was claimed by ­Islamic State, which is less powerful than the Taliban but is growing stronger. Afghan forces backed by US airstrikes have since intensified an offensive against Islamic State jihadists in their eastern stronghold of Nangarhar.

Additional reporting: Agencies