Russian among Kabul attack victims: official

A Russian employee of a United Nations mission died in a Taliban suicide assault in Kabul, the Russian foreign ministry said on Saturday, adding the attack proved terrorism was on the rise in Afghanistan.

A total of 21 people including 13 foreigners died in the attack on a popular restaurant in Kabul on Friday evening.

“Among the dead is an employee of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Russian national V. Sh. Nazarov,” said Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, expressing condolences to the families of the victims.

He said in a statement the attack “confirmed the growing scale of terrorist threats in Afghanistan” and called on the international community to mount a united front “against this evil both in and outside Afghanistan”.