MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines Thursday condemned a suicide attack by Taliban bombers on a guest house in the Afghan capital of Kabul that killed five United Nations workers, including a Filipino mother of two, and urged the world community to denounce “this latest terrorist outrage.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) paid tribute to the Filipino fatality, Jossie G. Esto, an election training coordinator with the UN Volunteers Program, as “a dedicated worker for peace.”

A second Filipino volunteer, also a female, survived Wednesday’s two-hour attack.

Besides Esto, four other foreign UN staff members, three Afghan policemen and one civilian died in the dawn assault. Three Taliban suicide bombers were killed when they detonated their bombs inside the guest house.

Esto, 40, was killed when Islamist gunmen stormed the Bekhtar Guest House where she and other UN staff members were staying, spraying the small hotel with gunfire and detonating grenades before killing themselves.

Esto was married with two children, aged 14 and 11. She was a former school teacher who also worked as an electoral officer and civic education officer in the Philippines before serving as a UN volunteer in Liberia, East Timor and Nepal.

She was among eight Filipinos working as UN volunteers in Afghanistan.

Ban on OFWs

Esto had been in Afghanistan for just over a year and was working with the United Nations Development Program’s Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (UNDP/ELECT) project—the primary vehicle through which the international community supports the elections in Afghanistan.

Besides Esto, the four UN staff members killed were from Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia and the United States. Nine people wounded in the attack suffered mostly cuts and bruises as they tried to escape.

There are about 1,500 Filipino workers in Afghanistan, including 500 in the capital Kabul and 1,000 in the southern part of the country.

The Philippines has imposed a ban on Filipinos working in Afghanistan since December 2007. International organization workers and diplomatic staff are exempted from the ban.

Crackle of gunfire

The assault on the guest house began shortly before 6 a.m. when three gunmen wearing green uniforms and suicide vests broke into the three-story residential hotel.

The crackle of gunfire echoed across the city and explosions set fire to the building, filling the lobby and the upper floors with smoke. Terrified UN workers scrambled over the roof or leaped from windows to escape.

About 2 kilometers away from the guest house, one rocket struck the “outer limit” of the presidential palace but caused no casualties. Two more rockets slammed into the grounds of the luxury Serena Hotel, favored by foreigners, filling the lobby with smoke and forcing guests and employees to take refuge in the basement.

The Filipino woman who survived the assault was able to get out of the guest house during the attack, the DFA spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Eduaro Malaya, said.

“She escaped unharmed and is currently under the care of the UNDP medical office in Kabul,” Malaya said.

RP also grieves

Malaya said the DFA was withholding the survivor’s identity for “reasons of privacy.” She was among the 20 UN workers in the guest house at the time of the attack.

“The Philippine government condemns the terrorist attack perpetuated against UN personnel in Kabul that claimed the life of Jossie G. Esto ... and those of four of her colleagues,” the DFA said in a statement.

“The Filipino nation joins her bereaved family and friends in mourning the loss of Ms Esto, a dedicated worker for peace,” it added.

The Philippines, according to the DFA, “calls on the international community to condemn this latest terrorist outrage.”

“The Philippines ... takes deep pride in all Filipinos serving in the United Nations as officials, peacekeepers, specialists, staff members and volunteers wherever they may be,” the DFA said.

4th Filipino killed

Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Hilario Davide Jr. said the executive coordinator of the UN Volunteers program, Flavia Pansieri, had relayed condolences to the families of Esto and the other UN volunteers.

“(They) dedicated their knowledge and experience as volunteers to support the people of Afghanistan. As volunteers, they demonstrated a true commitment to the cause of peace and development and their sacrifice will not be forgotten,” Davide quoted Pansieri as saying.

Esto was the fourth Filipino killed in terrorist attacks against the United Nations in recent years.

In 2003, Ranillo Buenaventura, a staffer of the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, was killed in the suicide car bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

Last year, Gene Luna, a staffer of the World Food Programme, was killed in the terrorist bombing of UN offices in Algiers.

Another Filipino, Perseveranda So, of the United Nations Children’s Fund, was among the victims in a bomb attack on a hotel housing international workers in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Esto’s death came five years after Angelito Nayan, a Filipino UN volunteer assisting in the 2004 Afghan elections, was kidnapped in Kabul and held for three weeks by the Taliban.

Lockdown ordered

The assault underscored the risks facing UN and Afghan officials in organizing a runoff election following the fraud-marred first-round vote Aug. 20, and the massive challenge for the US-led military force in curbing the determined Taliban insurgency.

The attack demonstrated the ease with which Taliban militants can penetrate the relative safety of Kabul. A Taliban spokesperson said the attack was aimed at undermining the Nov. 7 presidential election runoff.

UN spokesperson Aleem Siddique said at least nine UN staff members who survived the assault on the guest house would be evacuated to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

UN staff on ‘lockdown’

The United Nations has ordered its employees to remain “on lockdown,” with their movements restricted. A UN staffer said that meant most staff were staying home.

An internal UN memo ordered restrictions on movement for the rest of the week and said UN departments would be reviewing lists of critical and nonessential personnel, suggesting some people may be moved out of the country for their own safety.

The Aug. 19, 2003, truck bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22 people, prompted the United Nations to pull out of Iraq for several years.

An umbrella group of more than 100 local and international aid agencies said aid organizations in Afghanistan “have been subject to increasing numbers of attacks, threats and intimidation by both insurgent and criminal groups.”

Wednesday’s violence brought the number of aid workers killed in Afghanistan this year to at least 23, the group said.

The runoff election pits President Hamid Karzai against former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Washington sees it as crucial to restoring legitimacy to the corruption-riddled government. With reports from Associated Press and Agence France-Presse