REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KABUL - A suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital, killing up to 21 people including three United Nations staff and the IMF's top representative in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, calling it revenge for a US airstrike earlier this week that had also drawn condemnation from President Hamid Karzai as eight civilians were killed.

Gunmen burst into the restaurant spraying diners with bullets after the bomber blew himself up near the entrance around 7.30 pm on Friday evening. Thirteen foreigners were among those killed, according to police, and details of the victims began to trickle through on Saturday.

The US embassy said in a post on Twitter that at least two US private citizens were killed. Britain and Canada confirmed they had each lost two nationals, and Denmark said one of its citizens also died. 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.

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, a clearance operation was still underway, 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 favorite haunt for foreigners, including diplomats, contractors, journalists and aid workers.

Most foreign forces are preparing to leave Afghanistan this year after more than a decade of war, and there are fears that 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, Karzai is still deliberating whether to allow some US troops to stay on. If no agreement is reached, Afghan forces could be left to fight the insurgents on their own.

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