Afghan security forces investigate the aftermath of Friday’s suicide attack and shooting in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Kabul restaurant, seen in the background, filled with foreigners and affluent Afghans, while two gunmen snuck in through the back door and opened fire Friday in a brazen dinnertime attack that killed 16 people, officials said.KABUL, Afghanistan – A Taliban attack against a popular Kabul restaurant killed 21 people, authorities said Saturday, making it the deadliest single attack against foreign civilians in the course of a nearly 13-year U.S.-led war there now approaching its end.
The attack comes as security has been deteriorating and apprehension has been growing among Afghans over their country’s future as U.S.-led foreign forces prepare for a final withdrawal at the end of the year.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is deferring signing an agreement allowing U.S. forces to stay past the planned withdraw until after the country’s April 5 presidential election, criticized America while condemning the attack.
“If NATO forces and in the lead the United States of America want to cooperate and be united with Afghan people, they must target terrorism,” he said without fully elaborating on what America should be doing. He added that America had followed a policy that “was not successful in the past decade.”
The dead from Friday’s assault against La Taverna du Liban included 14 foreigners and eight Afghans, all civilians. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said late Saturday that three Americans were killed. Previously, those identified included two U.S. citizens working for the American University of Afghanistan and a victim identified by the United Nations as a Somali-American.