Taliban attack on British Council building kills 10

The Taliban brought terror to the streets of Kabul again yesterday with a double suicide strike at the British Council compound in the Afghan capital, which left at least 10 people dead.

Militants stormed the building, starting an eight-hour gun battle with Afghan security forces and New Zealand special forces as teachers sheltered in a panic room.

The attack, apparently timed to coincide with the 92nd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence from Britain, was aimed at the UK. Once again, though, it was the locals who bore the brunt of the violence. Yesterday G4S Secure Solutions, which guards the council's staff, confirmed that three of its Afghan employees were killed while six others – three Nepalese former Gurkhas and three Afghans – were injured. A New Zealand SAS soldier was also killed. Among the other dead were a policemen and a street cleaner.

Last night David Cameron condemned the bombing of an educational charity promoting cultural relations as "vicious and cowardly" and insisted it would not halt the UK's "vital work" in Afghanistan.

The female teachers, one British and one South African, were asleep inside the compound when a car bomb blasted through the walls early yesterday morning. Minutes earlier, another suicide bomber had hit a key intersection in Kabul. At the British Council, a second suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest inside the compound. Early reports suggested that at least five militants carried out the assault and wrestled weapons from guards. Afghan police and New Zealand special forces cleared the two buildings, parts of which were in flames, room by room. They were helped by a British, US and French troops. A Taliban spokesman said the attack was intended to send a message to the Afghan and British governments that "we will become independent again from all foreigners, especially from the British".

In Pakistan, a suicide bomber, suspected of being a Taliban militant, blew himself up at a mosque in the north-west. At least 47 died and more than 70 were wounded.