Second Spanish policemen dies after Kabul assault

A second Spanish policeman working at the Spanish Embassy in Kabul was confirmed as having lost his life during the Taliban attack on the embassy district in the Afghan capital on Friday.

Jorge Garcia Tudela was named as the second Spanish victim after it had earlier been reported that 48-year-old Isidro Gabino Sanmartin Hernandez had been the first victim of the attack, which is thought to have claimed 10 lives (among them four Afghan police) and left nine people seriously injured.

The Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed the deaths with a communique, which also added that all of the remaining personnel in the Embassy have been evacuated following an operation which lasted for almost 12 hours.

Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz will on Saturday visit the families of the two policemen in their respective home towns of Leon and Granada.

The deaths happened when the Taliban detonated a car bomb outside of a guest house, which is situated close to the Spanish Embassy and in the resulting confusion three of them were able to enter the Embassy complex before finally being killed.

The car bomb had exploded at around 3pm local time and it was not until the early hours of the morning that the area was finally declared to be clear.

On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had been at pains to make it clear that his country's Embassy had not been the main target of the insurgents. Endit