An explosion rocked a Chinese-operated eatery located within a hotel in a well-guarded area of Afghanistan’s capital on Monday, resulting in the deaths of a Chinese national and six Afghan individuals, with multiple others sustaining injuries, including a child, as confirmed by officials.
Situated in the bustling commercial district of Shahr-e-Naw in Kabul, which houses various office buildings, shopping centers, and diplomatic missions, the restaurant was deemed to be in one of the city’s secure zones, according to police spokesperson Khalid Zadran. The Afghan branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, asserting that it was executed by a suicide bomber.
The restaurant, managed jointly by a Chinese Muslim individual named Abdul Majid, his spouse, and an Afghan partner named Abdul Jabbar Mahmood, catered to the Chinese Muslim community, as stated by Zadran.
The Amaq news agency reported that the local faction of the Islamic State had included Chinese nationals as targets, citing alleged mistreatment of Uyghurs by the Chinese government. Uyghurs, predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities totaling around 10 million individuals residing in China’s distant Xinjiang region, have been subject to severe allegations of human rights violations by Beijing. China has refuted these accusations, accusing Western nations of interference and spreading falsehoods.
Among the casualties of the explosion, which occurred near the kitchen area, were one Chinese citizen identified as Ayub and six Afghan individuals, with several others sustaining injuries, Zadran confirmed. Social media videos displayed debris strewn across the street outside the restaurant and smoke billowing from a substantial hole in the building’s front.
Dejan Panic, the country director for the humanitarian organization EMERGENCY in Afghanistan, remarked that their hospital had received 20 individuals, including four women and a child, with seven individuals tragically succumbing to their injuries upon arrival.
While Afghan authorities refrained from officially disclosing the cause of the blast, citing an ongoing investigation, the president of neighboring Pakistan issued a statement attributing the incident to a bomb explosion.
Despite the Taliban assuming power in war-torn Afghanistan in 2021 and pledging to reinstate security, bomb attacks persist, with many being claimed by the local branch of the militant Islamic State group.