KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A deadly Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital has raised concerns among other relief organizations that they could be targeted.

Authorities say Wednesday’s assault on Counterpart International in Kabul killed at least nine people as insurgents set off a huge explosion and battled security forces for over six hours. Those killed included three Afghan employees of the organization and two of its security guards.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday they had targeted the organization because Counterpart International promotes “Western culture,” including encouraging the mixing of the genders — something that is taboo to the Taliban.

Mujahid claimed the organization was also training Afghan security forces, without elaborating.

The attack came as the Taliban hold peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A deadly Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital has raised concerns among other relief organizations that they could be targeted.

Authorities say Wednesday's assault on Counterpart International in Kabul killed at least nine people as insurgents set off a huge explosion and battled security forces for over six hours. Those killed included three Afghan employees of the organization and two of its security guards.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday they had targeted the organization because Counterpart International promotes "Western culture," including encouraging the mixing of the genders — something that is taboo to the Taliban.

Mujahid claimed the organization was also training Afghan security forces, without elaborating.

The attack came as the Taliban hold peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — A deadly Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital has raised concerns among other relief organizations that they could be targeted.

Authorities say Wednesday’s assault on Counterpart International in Kabul killed at least nine people as insurgents set off a huge explosion and battled security forces for over six hours. Those killed included three Afghan employees of the organization and two of its security guards.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday they had targeted the organization because Counterpart International promotes “Western culture,” including encouraging the mixing of the genders — something that is taboo to the Taliban.

Mujahid claimed the organization was also training Afghan security forces, without elaborating.

The attack came as the Taliban hold peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> KABUL — A deadly Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital has raised concerns among other relief organizations that they could be targeted.

Authorities say Wednesday’s assault on Counterpart International in Kabul killed at least nine people as insurgents set off a huge explosion and battled security forces for over six hours. Those killed included three Afghan employees of the organization and two of its security guards.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday they had targeted the organization because Counterpart International promotes “Western culture,” including encouraging the mixing of the genders — something that is taboo to the Taliban.

Mujahid claimed the organization was also training Afghan security forces, without elaborating.

The attack came as the Taliban hold peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar. </s> A deadly Taliban attack on U.S.-based aid group in the Afghan capital has raised concerns among other relief organizations that they could be targeted.

Authorities say Wednesday's assault on Counterpart International in Kabul killed at least nine people as insurgents set off a huge explosion and battled security forces for over six hours. Those killed included three Afghan employees of the organization and two of its security guards.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday they had targeted the organization because Counterpart International promotes "Western culture," including encouraging the mixing of the genders — something that is taboo to the Taliban.

Mujahid claimed the organization was also training Afghan security forces, without elaborating.

The attack came as the Taliban hold peace talks with the U.S. in Qatar. </s> A car bomb and gun attack against a U.S.-funded international relief organization in Afghanistan Wednesday killed at least five people, including a police guard, and wounded 24 others. Officials say Taliban insurgents attacked the nonprofit Counterpart International, which is a partner of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The NGO's president and CEO Ann Hudock told VOA's Afghan Service after the attack that all her staff is accounted for and safe. Zlatica Hoke has this report. </s> Three people have been killed in a car bomb and gun attack on the office of the non-governmental organisation, Save the Children, in eastern Afghanistan, according to local officials.

Two security guards and one civilian were killed and at least 25 others were wounded when a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside the headquarters of the international charity in Jalalabad early on Wednesday morning.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) has claimed responsibility for the attack via the group’s Amaq website, describing the targets as “British and Swedish institutes”.

Al Jazeera’s Jennifer Glasse, reporting from Kabul, said 47 people were rescued from the office building after Afghan security forces and the attackers battled each other for more than eight hours.

“A harrowing day for them, more than eight-and-a-half hours trapped inside that building with those attackers. They have been rescued,” she said.

At least two attackers have been killed since the fighting broke out, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Jalalabad, Humayoon Babur, an Afghan journalist, said the attack had taken place in “the heart of the city”.

“[The area] is home to many government buildings … [and]the provincial government office,” he said.

Save the Children said it was suspending its operations in Afghanistan until it was safe to resume work.

In a statement, the children’s aid group confirmed that three of its staff members were killed.

“Save the Children condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms,” it said.

“We are shocked and appalled at the violence, carried out against our staff in Afghanistan who are dedicated humanitarians, committed to improving the lives and wellbeing of millions of children across the country.”

Monica Zanarelli, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan, has called the attack “outrageous”.

“Increased violence has made operating in Afghanistan difficult for many organisations,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The ICRC … will continue focusing on our dialogue with arm carriers – both the Afghan National Security Forces and the armed opposition – to discuss the principles of International Humanitarian Law and the respect for civilians and medical missions.”

The Jalalabad attack comes just days after at least 18 civilians were killed and 22 others wounded in an assault on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.

The Taliban has since claimed responsibility for that assault, which lasted for 16 hours from the evening of January 20 before all the attackers were killed.

Michael Semple, a professor at Queen’s University Belfast and an expert on Afghanistan, said it was too early to say who was behind Wednesday’s attack, or the rationale behind it.

Looking at recent trends more broadly, however, Semple told Al Jazeera “the Taliban seem to be acting as if all foreigners – the foreign presence – is for them somehow important”.

“They say that they are attacking the invaders and rather than focusing on military targets, they are prepared to go with any element of the foreign presence in Afghanistan,” he said. </s> At least one person has been killed in an ongoing attack on a charity in central Kabul, the interior ministry said Tuesday, after a wave of explosions hit the Afghan capital.

The attack on a charity called Pamlarena began late Monday, hours after a Taliban double bombing killed at least 24 people and left 91 others wounded, said ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

Pamlarena means care in Pashto, but it was unclear if the assault was on the international charity, Care.

"We believe two attackers have entered the building. Unfortunately one civilian has been killed and six others wounded," Sediqqi told AFP.

Care International was not immediately reachable for comment.

The attack began after a third massive explosion jolted Kabul late Monday, which was followed by erratic gunfire.

That blast came just hours after high-level officials, including an army general, were killed in the twin blasts near the defence ministry, as the Taliban ramp up their nationwide offensive against the US-backed government.

The violence highlights the deteriorating security situation in the country, which has taken a heavy toll on civilians. </s> Kabul: At least six Afghan employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were killed on Wednesday by suspected Islamic State gunmen in northern Afghanistan, officials said.

Another two employees were unaccounted for after the attack in Jowzjan province, ICRC spokesman Thomas Glass said.
Nine people were killed after the Taliban launches an attack on the Kabul offices of international non-governmental organization Counterpart International.