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The engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia "has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual" and "no explanation" for what caused the crash, his attorney told ABC News.

The engineer, Brandon Bostian, 32, of Queens, New York, was “very distraught” to learn that the crash killed at least seven people, the attorney, Robert Goggin, told ABC News. He added that Bostian voluntarily turned over a blood sample and his cell phone and is cooperating with authorities.

“I asked him if he had any medical issues,” Goggin said. “He said he had none. He's on no medications ... He has no health issues to speak of and just has no explanation.”

Goggin noted Bostian suffered injuries in the crash, including a concussion and injuries to his legs that required treatment at a hospital.

“He remembers driving the train,” Goggin said. “He remembers going to that area generally, [but] has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual. He recalls -- the next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cell phone and dialing 911.”

Later, however, Bostian learned the details.

“The television was on in the police district, and the constant count and recounting of the incident was being broadcast in his face all morning, and he was distraught,” Goggin said.

Though Bostian retained an attorney, Goggin said, he has not stopped cooperating with police, and was willing to speak to National Transportation Safety Board investigators, as well.

An NTSB board member said an initial review of the train's data recorder shows that the train was going 106 mph three seconds before the recording ended, when the engineer pressed the full emergency brake application. The train was going 102 mph at the end of the recording. There is a 50 mph limit at the curve where the train derailed and a 70 mph limit for regional trains in the area preceding the curve, so the reason why the train was going so fast will be one of the biggest questions facing investigators.

Goggin said Bostian does not remember setting the emergency brake.

"He said he was pulling into speed-restricted track," Goggin said. "It was on speed-restricted track, and the next thing he recalls is waking up and looking for his cell phone."

Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia

Goggin said his client spent a great deal of time with police before he arrived.

“He was at the disposal of the police for six hours before I -- or five hours -- before I got on scene,” Goggin said.

“Among other things, they indicated that they wanted to get a search warrant for his blood, which we consented to,” Goggin added. “He said, ‘You don't need a search warrant, happy to give it to you.’ It had already been drawn at Einstein Hospital. They asked for his cell phone, which they had. [We] said, ‘Have it. Take all the information you want. You don't need a search warrant for that either. We'll give it to you.’ I'm assuming [authorities asked for the phone] because they want to see whether he was on the telephone at the time of the accident. So he's cooperated, and not only that, he's indicated that he would make himself available to the police if they need any more information.”

Goggin described his client’s physical condition as "pretty beat up." Besides a concussion, he said, “He's got 14 staples in his head, several stitches in his leg. He has one leg, the other leg immobilized with a knee problem. What he looked was exhausted.”

Even so, Goggin said, Bostian shares the same concerns as other interested parties.

“The main concern is just the overwhelming tragedy, the loss of life, the injuries to so many people,” Goggin said. “That's really the concern right now. That's his concern, that's the union’s concern, I'm certain [it’s] Amtrak’s concern. It's a tragedy on all fronts.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Bostian has worked at Amtrak for nearly nine years, the first half of which he spent as a passenger conductor before he became a passenger engineer in December 2010.

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ABC News' Meghan Keneally and Freda Kahen-Kashi contributed to this report.

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram fighters launched an attack on northeast Nigeria's largest city Maiduguri on Wednesday ‎but were repelled by Nigerian troops after intense clashes, residents and the army said.

Dozens of militants armed with heavy guns and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the northern outskirts of the city near Giwa military base, shooting and firing explosives indiscriminately, local witnesses told AFP.

The army said in a statement its soldiers had fought off "a band of terrorists" and that two bombs carried by female suicide bombers were detonated ahead of the attack.

There was no immediate information on any casualties.

The assault was the first on Maiduguri after a three-month lull following sweeping offensives on Boko Haram strongholds by a regional coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

"They came in through the Kayamla area around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) when residents were preparing for evening prayers, firing in all directions and hurling bombs," said local resident Ibrahim Sidi.

"Soldiers from Giwa barracks deployed and intercepted them just on the outskirts of the city and engaged them in a fight that lasted for over 40 minutes," he said.

Hajara Musa was among hundreds of residents of Fori neighbourhood who sought refuge in a nearby university campus to escape the clashes.

"Bullets were flying all over the place, we had to crouch and move on all fours as bullets whizzed overhead," Musa said.

Bilkisu Ahmad, a students at the Maiduguri University said they were ordered by the campus security guards to lay flat to avoid being hit by bullets and grenades.

"It was terrifying," Ahmad said.

After the Islamists were forced to withdraw, some residents were able to return to their homes.

"Some of us have moved back to our homes after soldiers neutralised the attack but many others have fled into the city‎," Musa added.

A member of the civilian vigilantes‎ assisting the Nigerian military in the fight against Boko Haram said the attack could have been a reprisal for the losses incurred by the extremists in a Tuesday offensive on their camp some 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside the city.

"The attack was from all indication in response to the huge casualties Boko Haram suffered yesterday in the military operation on their camp in Mafa area ‎in which some women and children were rescued," said the vigilante who asked not to be named.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An overnight Taliban attack on a Kabul guesthouse left 14 people dead, including nine foreigners, in the most audacious assault by the insurgents in the Afghan capital since the start of their spring offensive, a government official said Thursday.

The full breakdown of the nationalities among the nine foreigners was not immediately known but an American, a British citizen, an Italian and four Indian nationals have been confirmed dead.

Gunmen stormed the restaurant of the Park Palace Hotel in the Afghan capital as it was hosting a party for foreigners on Wednesday evening, and authorities said the victims were killed during an hours-long siege that ended early Thursday morning.

Of the nine foreigners killed, seven were men and two were women, according to the Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Five Afghans were also among the dead — four men and one woman — and seven were wounded, including one Afghan policeman.

Though the Taliban have staged similar attacks in the past on Kabul hotels and guesthouses — typically extremely well-guarded locations for the ever-dwindling number of foreigners living and working here — the latest assault was a blow to President Ashraf Ghani's government which has been eager to project a sense of improvement in the security situation in the capital.

But since the U.S. and NATO forces formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year, Afghan security forces have struggled to fend off Taliban attacks on their own.

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Afghan women walk past Park Palace guesthouse Thursday, May 14, 2015 after being attacked by gunmen …

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan condemned the assault, saying in a statement Thursday that it was an "atrocity."

"Taliban statements on avoiding civilian casualties ring hollow when we set them against the latest killings," said UNAMA's human rights director Georgette Gagnon.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email distributed to media by their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who said the hotel was targeted because of the presence of foreigners, including Americans there. In the claim, Mujahid said only one attacker was involved, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle, a suicide vest and a pistol — not three as the Afghan government reported. The Taliban often exaggerate their claims.

The Afghan police kept the hotel cordoned off on Thursday. Earlier, they said all the attackers were killed in the shootout with security troops.

The attack began around 8:30 p.m. local time when the gunmen opened fire at the hotel restaurant, according to Kabul police chief Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi.

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Afghan police stand guard outside Park Palace guesthouse Thursday, May 14, 2015 after being attacked …

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Monica Cummings said in an email statement that a U.S. citizen was killed in the attack, although she had no further details and did not identify the victim. Cummings said the U.S. Embassy was in close contact with Afghan authorities and was working to obtain more information.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims," she said.

India's Ambassador Amar Sinha confirmed Thursday that four Indian nationals were also among the dead - three men and a woman. He said they were among a total of 11 Indians residing at the guesthouse, none of whom are embassy personnel.

The guesthouse had about 100 residents, he said.

In Rome, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that one of the dead was Italian, according to the ANSA news agency. Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, in Turkey for a NATO meeting, identified him as Sandro Abati. He said he was a consultant for an agency that works to promote investment in Afghanistan, ANSA said.

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An Afghan police officer guards Park Palace guesthouse Thursday, May 14, 2015 after being attacked b …

Also Thursday, the British Embassy in Kabul issued a statement saying that a dual British-Afghan national was also killed in the attack.

Throughout the standoff, sporadic gunfire echoed around the guesthouse in a central neighborhood that is home to United Nations compounds and a foreign-run hospital.

At one point, two explosions could be heard and four ambulances and fire trucks later arrived at the scene. Police initially freed some 20 people trapped inside the guesthouse, but others had remained inside, according to Zia Massoud, an Afghan government official. At least 54 hostages were rescued in all, according to Afghan officials.

At the scene, Amin Habib, a U.S. citizen from Los Angeles, told the AP that a party was going on at the hotel to honor a Canadian when the gunmen stormed the guesthouse. He said dozens of people, including foreigners and U.S. citizens, were inside the hotel at the time.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Caitlin Workman said all staff at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul were "safe and accounted for."

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Afghan security forces inspect the site of the Park Palace Hotel attacked by gunmen, in Kabul, Afgha …

The hotel has both guest rooms for visitors and a residential area for those who live full time in Kabul, including foreign aid workers.

In March 2014, the Taliban stormed the Serena Hotel where guests had gathered at the restaurant for a buffet dinner to celebrate the Persian New Year. Nine people in all were shot at close range and killed in the attack, which was particularly shocking because the luxury hotel was long considered one of the safest places in Kabul to stay. The dead included four foreigners, an Afghan businessman and an Afghan journalist, his wife and two of his three children.

And in January 2014, the Taliban attacked a popular Lebanese restaurant in Kabul, killing 21 people, making it the deadliest single attack against foreign civilians in the course of a nearly 13-year U.S.-led war there.

Wednesday's attack showed how much the Taliban have been able to adapt to the tightened security situation in the Afghan capital, where smuggling in large amounts of weaponry has become increasingly difficult, a diplomat said.

"Everyone had been expecting a big Taliban attack on Kabul to mark the launch of the spring offensive, something like a truck bomb, but that didn't happen," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "So they come with smaller weapons and firearms."

The Taliban stepped up their attacks against Afghan security forces across the country after launching their annual spring offensive last month. The offensive coincides with the melting of snow in the mountains and the start of warmer weather that allows them to more easily traverse the mountains along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

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Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.

Karachi (AFP) - Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi was brought to a standstill Thursday following the massacre of 44 minority Shiite Ismaili Muslims in the first attack officially claimed by the Islamic State group in the country.

Hundreds of distraught relatives lined the streets around a cemetery in the city's eastern Safoora Goth area passing the coffins of the men and women who were killed on Wednesday when up to six gunmen stormed a bus and shot them in the head and upper body.

The provincial chief minister had announced a day of mourning as all markets, shops and schools were shut and public transport was suspended.

Schools, colleges and universities also postponed examinations.

The toll from the attack rose from 43 to 44 after a wounded woman died at the city's Aga Khan hospital, a spokesman told AFP.

Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo told AFP the police had rounded up several suspects and most of them were the members of banned militant outfits.

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Pakistani mourners carry the coffin of a member of the Shiite Ismaili Muslim minority community duri …

Thebo said: "According to initial investigations, there were six attackers. Three went inside the bus and three remained outside. They fired with 9 mm and Kalashnikov rifles."

Wednesday's attack was the first in the country officially claimed by the Islamic State group, which controls swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

It was also claimed by local militant faction Jundullah, which reportedly pledged its allegiance to the group last year.

Thebo, the police chief, was cautious about the claims and said the attackers seemed to be locals.

"The attacker seemed to be local and knew the area well. Maybe their handlers were from outside Pakistan," he said.

"In a previous attack on Bohri community mosque the attackers also left a pamphlet, investigators are looking into whether it is the same group which struck yesterday," he added, referring to another Shiite minority sect.

Wednesday's attack was the second-deadliest in Pakistan this year after 62 Shiite Muslims were killed in a suicide bombing in late January.