French filmmaker SEVERIN BLANCHET has been killed in a suicide attack by insurgents on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The documentary filmmaker, who was training young Afghans at the French film school Ateliers Varan, was killed on Friday (26Feb10) at the Park Residence, a popular guesthouse for foreigners, reports the New York Times. He was 66.
According to police officials, at least 18 people, including French, Italian, Afghan and many Indian nationals, were killed in suicide and car bomb attacks on two guesthouses in the capital.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner paid tribute to the filmmaker on Friday, saying: "I salute the memory of our compatriot Severin Blanchet. He was a privileged partner in French cultural action in Afghanistan. We will pursue with determination the work that he had started with such generosity and solidarity."