KABUL, (Reuters) – Taliban militants killed five  U.N. foreign staff in an attack on an international guest-house  in Kabul yesterday, deepening concerns about security for a  presidential election run-off due in 10 days.

The resurgent Taliban have vowed to disrupt the Nov. 7  run-off as U.S. President Barack Obama weighs whether to send  more troops to Afghanistan to fight an insurgency that has  reached its fiercest level in eight years.

In another sign of the growing reach of militants, rockets  were also fired at a foreign-owned luxury hotel near the  presidential palace in the heart of the Afghan capital, forcing  more than 100 guests into a bunker, a hotel guest said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to  neighbouring Pakistan where there were also deadly blasts,  confirmed one American working for the world body was among  those killed in the U.N. attack.

“I strongly condemn the cowardly attack today,” Clinton  said in a statement. “The United States remains steadfast in  its support for the United Nations and its vital work to help  the Afghan people,” she said, adding that 20 Americans had died  in Afghanistan in recent days.

In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the  attack in Kabul was an attempt to disrupt the run-off election  and “will not succeed.”

The Taliban said they had targeted the guest-house because  of the United Nations’s role in helping organize the run-off.
“We have said that we would attack anyone engaged in the  process and today’s attack is just a start,” Taliban spokesman  Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in New York that  the world body would not be deterred by the attack, which he  called a “shocking and shameless act.” Nine people were also  wounded, the U.N. said.

One foreign woman screamed and sobbed as she limped from  the guest-house. Onlookers and police carried another victim  away using a blanket as a stretcher.

“It doesn’t look good in there,” a U.N. medic, who asked  not to be identified, told Reuters at the scene.
The United Nations, which has operated in Afghanistan for  more than half a century, said it would review security  measures following the attack.
Aid groups working in Kabul also said they would take extra  precautions during the election period. “We think it is very  important that humanitarian workers are protected,” said Save  the Children director of international operations, Greg Ramm.

The nationalities of most of the U.N. staff killed in the  Kabul guest-house attack were unclear. The sound of gunfire and  sirens echoed across the capital for hours.