Incident Summary:
10/28/2009: On Wednesday morning at about 0500, three Taliban militants wearing suicide vests attacked the Bekhtar United Nations guesthouse in Kabul, Afghanistan. The three gunmen in police uniforms with AK-47s were dropped off at the location by an official green Afghan national police truck and started with killing the Afghan guards at the front gate of the guesthouse and later used grenades during the two hour gun battle at the guesthouse; the three militants, six foreign UN employees, two Afghan security force personnel and a civilian were killed and nine others injured. The militants were killed by security personnel during the attack. This is related to the emergency crews responding to the scene by 0900. Also, the United Nations has implemented a "white city" lockdown, which confines all the staff to the guesthouses and banning any movement within the city until further notice. Furthermore, the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. This attack was targeting UN personnel because of their involvement in the electoral process in Afghanistan and the second run-off in the presidential election that will occur shortly.
Overview
GTD ID:
200910280017
When:
2009-10-28
Country:
Afghanistan
Region:
South Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Kabul
City:
Kabul
Location Details:
The attack took place in Shar-e-Naw, Kabul, Kabul, Afghanistan.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (Diplomatic) |
Name of Entity |
United Nations |
Specific Description |
United Nations personnel |
Nationality of Target |
Afghanistan |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Suicide (carried bodily by human being) |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
Grenades and AK-47s were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | Yes |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The available sources listed that there was three assailants to four, so the majority figures were reported. The sources state that the militants were wearing suicide vests and that one militant managed to detonate himself, while security forces killed the other one. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Taliban |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Other) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
12 Fatalities / 9 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
12 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
1 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
3 |
Total Number of Injured |
9 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
The Guardian, "UN Workers Killed in Afghanistan Attack," http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/28/six-un-workers-killed-kabul-attack-afghanistan (October 28,2009). |
Jane’s Intelligence, “Taliban Militants Kill Six UN Employees in Afghan Capital,” Terrorism Watch Report, October 28, 2009. |
National Counterterrorism Center, "Six UN Workers, Two Private Security Guards, One Civilian Killed, Nine UN Workers Injured in Armed Attack by Taliban in Kabul, Kabol, Afghanistan," Worldwide Incidents Tracking System, Apil 7, 2010. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties