Kabul police chief quits after Taliban attack

Kabul, November 30

The Kabul police chief resigned on Sunday after Taliban gunmen killed three members of a South African family in the capital, while officials said Afghan forces had ousted insurgents trying to seize former US and British base Camp Bastion in the south.

Taliban fighters breached the perimeter of Camp Bastion in the southern Afghan province of Helmand three days ago, just one month after the base was handed over to the Afghan army.

The latest Taliban attacks  have added to concern the police and army will struggle to hold strategic territory after most foreign troops pull out at the end of 2014.

The guest house attacked by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday, the third attack on a foreign guest house in 10 days, was home to staff of the US-based charity Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD).

PAD said on its website that three people were killed by insurgents who used guns and explosives. They were identified  as members of the same South African family — a father and his two teenage children - by a colleague of the mother, who was not in the compound at the time. — Reuters