The founder and CEO of Roots of Peace, a San Rafael-based humanitarian nonprofit, credited its Afghan security guards and military forces with protecting the organization's employees after its office in Kabul was inadvertently attacked by the Taliban early on the morning of March 28.
Heidi Kuhn said the intended target was a Christian day-care center in an adjoining building. Five Taliban insurgents died, but the Roots of Peace staff survived. The staff consists of five expatriates -- two Americans, an Australian, a Malaysian and a South African.
Kuhn told Isabel Angell of KQED that a suicide bomber blew up the gate of the building the group shared with the child-care center. "We were hearing these shots and these screams on the other side of the world," she said, "as we monitored this from the living room of our family home at 6 o'clock in the morning when we woke up to the cries, 'Roots of Peace is under attack, the Taliban is here.' "
Roots of Peace is working to find a new home, Kuhn said.
In a statement, she said: "Afghan security guards and highly trained Afghan military forces trained by the United States and NATO forces saved the day without any casualties to our employees.