Suicide blasts

Prime Minister David Cameron said a "particularly vicious" suicide attack on the British Council cultural centre in the Afghan capital on Friday would not scare Britain away from its work in the country.

"It's obviously a tragic but cowardly act that has been undertaken but it won't succeed and it won't deflect us from the vital work we are doing in Afghanistan," Cameron told reporters.

Taliban suicide bombers attacked offices belonging to the British Council and the United Nations in Kabul on Friday, killing at least eight and injuring 10 others. Britain confirmed that none of its citizens were among the dead.

At least three blasts struck the Council offices while a gunfight was reported close to the neighbouring UN compound.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks early Friday which coincided with a public holiday marking the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from Britain.

"We targeted the British Council and the UN," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told news agency Reuters by telephone. He would not confirm how many bombers were behind the blasts.

Marking independence

The British Council is an official state-funded organization that promotes cultural relations.

The attack comes a month after NATO handed security responsibilities over to Afghan forces in several areas of the country as part of an effort to withdraw all foreign troops from Afghanistan by 2014.

In July, NATO-led German troops handed over security responsibilities to local Afghan forces in the capital of the northern province, Balkh. Afghan forces have effectively been responsible for Kabul since 2008.

Author: Sarah Harman, Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler