“Attackers stormed a guest house in central Kabul on Wednesday morning, killing five people, including three United Nations staff members, a United Nations spokesman and an Afghan rescue official said,” The New York Times informs Oct. 28.

The source says, “An Afghan police official said that militants had entered the United Nations guest house and engaged in a gun battle with Afghan forces. The Afghan authorities said five of the attackers were killed, according to American Embassy officials, bringing the death count to 10.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was tied to the upcoming presidential election, The Associated Press reported.”

“This week's casualties brought total US troop deaths to 53 for the month so far, surpassing the figure of 51 deaths for August, according to the independent website icasualties.org. With two months left to run, 275 US service members have died in Afghanistan this year, compared with 155 in 2008 and fewer than 100 for each year between 2001 and 2006,” Financial Times informs Oct. 28.

According to the Guardian, “A UN spokesman said six employees had been killed but was unable to confirm claims that some of the residents worked for UN Elect, the agency supporting the country's presidential election.

The UN also said nine people had been injured in the attack.”