Thomassen, a 38-year-old Norwegian who worked for the Oslo
daily Dagbladet, was among eight
people who died in a coordinated suicide bomb attack at Kabul’s Serena Hotel, a
gathering place for much of the country’s expatriate community.
The attack came during a visit by Norwegian Foreign Minister
Jonas Gahr Støre, who was in the hotel but was uninjured. Four hotel guards, a
an Afghan guest, and a Philippine spa director also died in the attack,
according to news reports. Two of the bombers died as well.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Støre was the
intended target. The Norwegian government held that Støre was not specifically
targeted and that the attack was aimed at the country’s foreign community at
large. About 500 Norwegian troops were taking part in NATO-led forces in
Afghanistan at the time.
The day after the attack, Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah
Saleh told a press conference that three Taliban militants wearing suicide
jackets filled with explosives ran onto the hotel grounds. The jacket of one
assailant exploded after he was shot by a hotel guard outside the building. A
second assailant detonated his explosives inside the hotel; the third was
arrested later.