Pakistan condemns attack on Kabul's restaurant

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Sunday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a Lebanese restaurant in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Friday which left 21 people dead.

The Foreign Ministry said that a Pakistani working with the United Nations was among those killed in the suicide bomb and gun attack in Kabul's highly-secured Wazir Akbar Khan area..

"We also reiterate our condemnation of terrorism in all its forms," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and offer best prayers for the speediest recovery of those injured, " it said.

The Taliban insurgent group claimed responsbility for the deadly attack.

The attackers struck the restaurant frequented by foreigners at a busy dining time, detonating bomb and firing indiscriminately at the people.

The dead included 13 foreigners and eight Afghans, Kabul police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanikzai has confirmed.

Officials said that four UN staff and senior IMF official Wabel Abdallah, a 60-year-old Lebanese national, were among those killed.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde later in a statement said Abdallah had been leading the Fund's office in Kabul since 2008.

The UN confirmed its four staff had been killed, with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemning the attack as "horrific".

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the attack was carried out to avenge civilian deaths by foreign troops in Seyah Gard district of central Parwan province.