U.N.'s Ban says undeterred by deadly Kabul U.N. attack

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world body will not be deterred by an attack on a guest-house in Kabul on Wednesday that killed five U.N. foreign staff and wounded several more.

"I condemn this shocking and shameless act and the terrorists who committed this crime," Ban told a news conference. "It is unjustifiable by any standards."

"We will never be deterred by these terrorist attacks," said Ban. "We will continue our work, particularly in helping the Afghan government and people carrying out the second presidential election."

He said that U.N. security procedures would be reviewed and strengthened.

The resurgent Taliban have vowed to disrupt the November 7 run-off as U.S. President Barack Obama weighs whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight an insurgency that has reached its fiercest level in eight years.

The Taliban said they targeted the guest-house because of the U.N. role in helping organize the run-off vote. Ban said there were at least 25 U.N. staff in the guest-house at the time of the attack.

The United Nations initially said six foreign staff members had been killed, but later amended the number to five. It said nine were wounded.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols, Editing by Eric Walsh)