A deadly attack on a guest house used by United Nations staff in Kabul will not stop the UN from carrying out its mission in Afghanistan, the UN secretary general has said. Speaking at UN headquarters in New York, Ban Ki-moon said the "shameless" attack had cost the lives of "women and men committed to the values of peace, dignity and respect for all." But he said the UN would "not be deterred from this noble mission". Wednesday's dawn attack by Taliban fighters on the privately-run Bekhtar guest house in central Kabul killed five UN workers. The three Taliban attackers and four Afghans were also killed during a fierce gun battle that broke out after the raid. In a statement the Taliban said it had carried out the attack on the UN because of its involvement in organising Afghanistan's presidential elections, the second round of which is due to be held on November 7. Ban said however that the UN would continue its work. "In principle we are not and we should not be deterred by this heinous terrorist attack. We will continue our work, particularly on helping the Afghan government and people carry on this second presidential election," he told reporters.
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