Gunman kills five civilians in Kabul

KABUL - An unidentified gunman entered in a house in the eastern part of Kabul and killed five members of the family, injuring two others, police said Sunday.

The overnight attack came one day after five Taliban suicide bombers killed 17 people, including nine Indians, in a series of explosions and gunfire that marked the deadliest assault against foreigners in the capital.

“The attacker killed five members of Ahmad Shah’s family in Nawabad Dahkhodaidad area of Kabul city,” Abdul Ghafar Sayedzada, head of criminal investigative department of Kabul police, said. Two other relatives were wounded, he said.

The attacker fled the area after the shooting, an Interior Ministry statement said.

The motive was not immediately known, officials said.

The attack in the centre of the city, protected by thousands of Afghan soldiers and police advised by NATO troops, suggested the vulnerability of the capital and exposed security risks.

In Friday’s attack, five Taliban fighters equipped with suicide vests and automatic rifles attacked two guest houses frequented by foreigners, mainly Indians. The attack left nine Indian nationals dead, including medical doctors and their assistants.

Three Afghan police, three civilians, a French filmmaker and an Italian working for his country’s embassy in Kabul were among those killed. The attackers also died.