UNITED NATIONS: Four Nepalese guards fought desperately against an armed mob that stormed a UN compound in Afghanistan on Friday, but were overwhelmed and died with three workers they were protecting, officials said.
United Nations leaders and governments paid tribute to the seven staff killed in what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an "outrageous and cowardly attack" in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The UN Security Council called on the Afghan government to increase protection for UN workers and bring those responsible to justice.
The attackers broke away from a big demonstration in the city against the burning of a Koran, Islam's holy book, by a US pastor.
"Some of them were clearly armed and they stormed into the building" and set it on fire, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters after briefing the Security Council.
"The security guards, who were the Gurkhas, tried their best but the number was so high that they were not able to prevent it."
He denied reports that two of the dead were beheaded but said one victim had his throat cut.
UN officials said the Gurkhas, security mainstays in many world trouble spots, were believed to have killed a number of assailants before they were overcome.
An Afghan provincial governor said at least five Afghans were killed in the compound.
An unknown number of UN staff were also wounded and they have been evacuated, Le Roy said. The Mazar-i-Sharif base would remain open though, he insisted, adding that he did not believe the United Nations had been a specific target of the attack.
Ban's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, and a top peacekeeping official had left for Afghanistan to conduct a review of security in UN facilities, Le Roy said.
The attack was the worst suffered by the world body since a bomb blast at the UN compound in Algiers in 2007 that left 17 staff dead.
"Afghanistan has become one of the most dangerous places for UN personnel," the UN staff union said. It listed nine other deaths of UN workers in the country in less than two years, including in targeted attacks, suicide bombings and drive-by shootings.
"This was an outrageous and cowardly attack against UN staff, which cannot be justified under any circumstances," Ban said on a visit to Nairobi.
The United Nations did not announce the nationalities of the three civilian staff killed. But Sweden named one as 33-year-old Swede, Joakim Dungel. Norway said Lieutenant Colonel Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot, was killed. Diplomats said the third was a Romanian.
The 15-nation UN Security Council held a special meeting on the incident and condemned the attack "in the strongest terms".
It called "on the government of Afghanistan to bring those responsible to justice and take all possible steps, with the assistance of ISAF as appropriate, to protect UN personnel and premises."
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has about 140,000 troops in the conflict-stricken nation.
"The dedicated staff of the UN Mission in Afghanistan does courageous work every single day to support the Afghan people under extremely difficult circumstances, including repeated attacks," said US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice.
Protests against the burning of the Koran in the United States were also held in Kabul, where demonstrators shouted slogans against the United States, Israel and Britain.
-AFP/wk
United Nations leaders and governments paid tribute to the seven staff killed in what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called an "outrageous and cowardly attack" in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The UN Security Council called on the Afghan government to increase protection for UN workers and bring those responsible to justice.
The attackers broke away from a big demonstration in the city against the burning of a Koran, Islam's holy book, by a US pastor.
"Some of them were clearly armed and they stormed into the building" and set it on fire, UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters after briefing the Security Council.
"The security guards, who were the Gurkhas, tried their best but the number was so high that they were not able to prevent it."
He denied reports that two of the dead were beheaded but said one victim had his throat cut.
UN officials said the Gurkhas, security mainstays in many world trouble spots, were believed to have killed a number of assailants before they were overcome.
An Afghan provincial governor said at least five Afghans were killed in the compound.
An unknown number of UN staff were also wounded and they have been evacuated, Le Roy said. The Mazar-i-Sharif base would remain open though, he insisted, adding that he did not believe the United Nations had been a specific target of the attack.
Ban's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, and a top peacekeeping official had left for Afghanistan to conduct a review of security in UN facilities, Le Roy said.
The attack was the worst suffered by the world body since a bomb blast at the UN compound in Algiers in 2007 that left 17 staff dead.
"Afghanistan has become one of the most dangerous places for UN personnel," the UN staff union said. It listed nine other deaths of UN workers in the country in less than two years, including in targeted attacks, suicide bombings and drive-by shootings.
"This was an outrageous and cowardly attack against UN staff, which cannot be justified under any circumstances," Ban said on a visit to Nairobi.
The United Nations did not announce the nationalities of the three civilian staff killed. But Sweden named one as 33-year-old Swede, Joakim Dungel. Norway said Lieutenant Colonel Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot, was killed. Diplomats said the third was a Romanian.
The 15-nation UN Security Council held a special meeting on the incident and condemned the attack "in the strongest terms".
It called "on the government of Afghanistan to bring those responsible to justice and take all possible steps, with the assistance of ISAF as appropriate, to protect UN personnel and premises."
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has about 140,000 troops in the conflict-stricken nation.
"The dedicated staff of the UN Mission in Afghanistan does courageous work every single day to support the Afghan people under extremely difficult circumstances, including repeated attacks," said US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice.
Protests against the burning of the Koran in the United States were also held in Kabul, where demonstrators shouted slogans against the United States, Israel and Britain.
-AFP/wk
