* Taliban claims responsibility, says revenge killing
* Police say 21 dead, mostly foreigners
* Dead include Afghans, three U.S. citizens, two Britons,
two Canadians
* Restaurant popular among expatriates in Afghan capital
(Raises death toll of U.S. citizens to three, paragraph 4)
By Jessica Donati and Mirwais Harooni
KABUL, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide bomber and
gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in the
heart of the Afghan capital Kabul, killing 21 people including
three United Nations staff and the International Monetary Fund's
top representative in Afghanistan.
Gunmen burst into the Lebanese restaurant spraying diners
with bullets after the bomber blew himself up near the entrance
around 7:30 p.m. local time on Friday, just as people had sat
down for dinner.
Thirteen foreigners were among those killed, according to
police, and details about the victims began to trickle through
on Saturday.
The U.S. State Department said three U.S. private citizens
were killed. Britain and Canada confirmed they each lost two
nationals and Denmark said one of its citizens also died.
The American University of Afghanistan said two of its U.S.
employees died in the attack on La Taverna du Liban, a popular
dining spot whose charismatic owner, Kamal Hamade, was also
killed.
"We are devastated by the news," Michael Smith, president of
AUAF, said in a statement.
After the initial blast, sporadic bursts of gunfire were
heard over the next hour. The two gunmen inside the Lebanese
restaurant, located in Kabul's diplomatic enclave, were shot
dead by police, an Afghan official said.
Most foreign forces are preparing to leave Afghanistan this
year after more than a decade of war. Afghanistan watchers fear
the Taliban will intensify attacks in the run-up to an election
in April to find a successor to President Hamid Karzai.
At odds with Washington over the terms of the bilateral
security pact that governs the withdrawal, Karzai is still
deliberating whether to allow some U.S. troops to stay on.
If no agreement is reached, Afghan forces could be left to
fight the insurgents on their own.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday's attack,
calling it revenge for a U.S. air strike earlier this week that
had also drawn condemnation from Karzai as eight civilians were
killed.
The White House condemned the violence.
"There is no possible justification for this attack, which
has killed innocent civilians, including Americans, working
every day to help the Afghan people achieve a better future with
higher education and economic assistance at the American
University, United Nations, International Monetary Fund and
other organizations," it said in a statement.
FAVOURITE HAUNT
Several kitchen staff survived by fleeing to the roof, where
they hid until they were rescued by police.
"When I was in the kitchen, I heard an explosion outside.
Then all the guys escaped up and I went to the roof and stayed
with my back to the chimney for two or three hours," said
Suleiman, a cook at the Lebanese restaurant.
By midnight, the operation to clear the area was still under
way, with police nervously flashing lasers at passing cars and
people on the dark, dusty streets.
The restaurant had been running for several years, and was a
favourite haunt for foreigners, including diplomats,
contractors, journalists and aid workers.
A couple of armed guards were usually on duty at the front
entrance, which led to a courtyard in front of the main ground
floor dining room.
The suicide bomb attack took place at that entrance, but
accounts differed over where the gunmen had entered from.
"The target of the attack was a restaurant frequented by
high-ranking foreigners ... where the invaders used to dine with
booze and liquor in the plenty," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid said in an e-mailed statement, written in English.
Karzai issued a statement on Saturday condemning the attack,
using the opportunity to swipe at the United States for not
doing enough to fight "terrorism."
"If NATO forces led by the United States of America want to
be united and partner with the Afghan people, they have to
target terrorism," he said in a statement. Karzai believes
Washington could do more to persuade the Taliban to begin direct
peace talks with his government.
UN PEACE SEEKER KILLED
The IMF's representative in Afghanistan, 60-year-old
Lebanese national Wabel Abdallah, was one of the diners killed.
He had led the fund's office in Kabul since 2008.
"This is tragic news, and we at the fund are all
devastated," Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a
statement. "Our hearts go out to Wabel's family and friends, as
well as the other victims of this attack."
The United Nations initially said four staff were killed,
counting the IMF's representative in the total. The other three
included a Russian, an American and a Pakistani.
The Russian was a senior U.N. political officer trying to
negotiate a start to peace talks with the Taliban.
"You can imagine the effect it has had on staff members
here," U.N. spokesman Ari Gaitanis told Reuters.
A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said two Britons were
killed in the attack. Del Singh, a British opposition Labour
Party candidate for the European Parliament, was one of British
victims, and the other was serving with the EU Police Mission in
Afghanistan. A Dane serving with the mission also died.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said two
Canadians were killed, but it was unclear which organisation
they worked for.
Foreign casualties were taken to a military base in Kabul.
At a hospital morgue near the attack, Afghans screamed and cried
as they mourned attack victims, some pressing scarves to their
faces to stifle sobs. One young man, grieving for his dead
father, kicked a wall and howled.
"One of the restaurant's cooks was wounded," said a doctor,
Abdul Bashir. "Two dead bodies have been taken to the morgue."
While the south and southeast of Afghanistan have been the
main theatres of action in a war that has dragged on for more
than a decade, Kabul has suffered regular attacks.
Taliban fighters mounted several attacks in the capital
during the summer months last year, but the assault on Friday
inflicted far higher casualties.
(Writing by Maria Golovnina, additional reporting by Erik
Kirschbaum in Berlin, Louis Charbonneau in New York, Anna
Yukhananov, Lesley Wroughton and Steve Holland in Washington;
editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Sonya Hepinstall and G Crosse)
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