KABUL - Gunmen stormed a guest house popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesda...

1. Gunmen storm Afghan guest house, at least one American
dead
KABUL - Gunmen stormed a guest house popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital Kabul on
Wednesday evening, police said, with at least one American killed and dozens others trapped by
fighting between the attackers and rescuers.
Authorities cordoned off the area around the Park Palace guest house in Kabul's Kolola Pushta area
immediately after the attack began around 8:30 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).
The attack ended about five hours later as ambulances raced out of the area. Kabul's police chief
was due to speak to reporters soon, police said.
A spokeswoman for the US Embassy confirmed that one American was killed in the attack but gave
no other details.
Qadam Shah Shaheem, commander of the Afghan National Army's 111th Corps, said police, army
and Special Forces had rescued at least 16 people, but police cited witnesses as saying as many as
100 people were still inside.
"Today, there was going to be a music concert there. Fortunately, most guests had not arrived yet,"
Shaheem said.
"The rescue operation is still on ... It is a big, two-story building with several rooms, so it will take
some time to clear it."

2. Kolola Pushta is home to several international guest houses and hotels and is near both the Ministry
of Interior and the Indian embassy. India's ambassador to Afghanistan tweeted that all Indian
nationals were reported safe.
Earlier on Wednesday, gunmen opened fire at a meeting of prominent Muslim clerics in the southern
province of Helmand, killing at least seven people, police official Jan Aqa said.
The Ulemma Council, the highest religious authority
in a deeply conservative country, had repeatedly
announced its support for security forces fighting the
hardline Islamist Taliban insurgents.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks since they
announced their "spring offensive" last month, after most foreign forces pulled out at the end of last
year, and claimed responsibility for the Helmand assault.
Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban have been fighting to bring down the US-backed
government in Kabul.
Earlier this month, insurgent suicide bombers twice attacked buses carrying staff belonging to the
attorney general's office in Kabul, killing at least four people.