'11 dead' in attack on UN in Kabul

One of the five UN dead was an American, the US Embassy said.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the early morning assaults, which also included rocket attacks at the presidential palace and the city's main luxury hotel.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as "an inhuman act" and called on the army and police to strengthen security around all international institutions.

The chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, said the attack "will not deter the UN from continuing all its work" in Afghanistan. And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added: "We will not be deterred from this noble mission."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks in a telephone call to The Associated Press, saying three militants with suicide vests, grenades and machine guns carried out the guest house assault.

He said three days ago that the Taliban issued a statement threatening anyone working on the November 7 runoff election between Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah. He added: "This is our first attack."

A UN spokesman said five UN staff were killed and nine other UN employees were wounded in the assault, which began about dawn in the Shar-e-Naw area of the city. Terrified guests fled the building during the assault - some screaming for help and others jumping from upper floors as flames engulfed part of the three-story building.

Afghan police and UN officials said 11 people in all were killed, including the UN staff, three attackers, two security guards and an Afghan civilian. The bodies of the attackers were taken out of the house and sent for autopsies, an officer at the scene said.

It was not immediately known how the victims were killed or how the fire started, but witnesses said they heard prolonged gunfire ringing from the house before police arrived at the scene.