Bamiyan Armed Attack Death Toll Rises to Six
Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Interior, announced that the death toll from the armed attack on tourists in Bamiyan has risen to six.
Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesperson for the Taliban Ministry of Interior, announced that the death toll from the armed attack on tourists in Bamiyan has risen to six.
The victims include three Spanish tourists and three Afghan nationals. Additionally, seven people, including three Afghans and four foreign tourists, were injured.The announcement came on Saturday. Qani confirmed that seven individuals had been arrested in connection with the incident.He emphasised that the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior is taking the incident seriously, conducting thorough investigations, and ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khan Jan Alokozai, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, told Afghanistan International that Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan stopped exporting TC-1 fuel to Afghanistan three months ago.
Alokozai added that if this issue is not resolved, the supply of aircraft fuel in Afghanistan will face serious problems.
He also stated that there is no alternative source for supplying such fuel to the Afghan market in the region.
Afghanistan have been importing two to three thousand tankers of TC-1 from Turkmenistan every month, with airlines like Ariana and Kam Air being the primary consumers.
According to Alokozai, the contracting companies have transferred the payment for the fuel to Turkmenistan, but this country is not willing to continue its exports to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, this member of the Chamber of Commerce mentioned that the contracting company, to avoid delays in the process of transporting pilgrims, has purchased some fuel from Belarus at a high price, but Belarus is also not ready to continue exporting TC-1 fuel to Afghanistan.
Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s foreign minister, has announced that three Spanish citizens were killed and one was injured in Bamiyan province of Afghanistan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reported, citing its sources, that three other injured individuals are citizens of Norway, Australia, and Lithuania.
The Taliban have stated that four people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in this attack.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the consular emergency unit has been fully mobilised to assist the victims and their families.
Sánchez wrote on X social media platform that he was overwhelmed by the news of the death of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan. Expressing his condolences to the families of the victims, he said that he is monitoring the situation.
Reaction of United States & European Union
The European Union and the US Special Representative for Afghanistan condemned the attack in separate statements.
Tom West, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan, expressed condolences to the families of the victims on his X account and stated that violence is not an answer.
The European Union also expressed condolences to the families of the victims and the injured in a statement on Friday.
A spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Interior announced that in this attack, three foreign citizens and one Afghan had been killed, and seven others, including four foreign nationals, were injured.
There is no immediate indication of the cause of the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility for it.
Bamiyan is the site of the remains of two giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.
Since taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have promised to improve security and encourage more foreign tourists to visit the country, aiming to turn the ruins of the Buddha statues into a source of revenue.
The shooting on Friday is one of the most serious attacks on foreign citizens since the withdrawal of foreign forces and the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan.
Previously, ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on Chinese citizens in a hotel in Kabul in 2022.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) announced that in an attack by its members on the guards of Mullah Hibatullah, the Taliban leader, in Kabul, three members of the group's special security guard were killed and another Taliban member was injured.
The front said that the attack occurred at 8:15pm on Friday near the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque in the city.
The front also posted a video of the attack on its X social media account.
The Taliban have not yet commented on this attack.
Earlier, local sources reported an explosion in the first district of Kabul city.
The AFF stated on its X account, “The leader of the Taliban group has been in Kabul for several days, and under the pretext of taking security measures to protect him, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on people's movement and business activities in the central areas of the capital.”
Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Taliban's Ministry of Interior, reported that an armed attack in Bamyan on Friday resulted in the deaths of three foreign nationals and one Afghan, with seven additional people, including four foreign nationals, injured.
Qani disclosed that four suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident. He strongly condemned the attack on the social platform X, asserting that the culprits have been apprehended and will face justice.
The spokesperson did not specify the nationality of the foreign victims. However, a source who requested anonymity informed Afghanistan International that the attack killed four foreign tourists and their Afghan driver, and injured eight civilians.
The source suggested that the tourists were likely Russian nationals.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the presidents of Russia and China, emphasised in a joint statement that the United States and NATO should not attempt to re-establish military infrastructure in Afghanistan.
The statement also mentioned that they are obligated to take responsibility for Afghanistan's socio-economic problems.
The joint statement by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping was published on the Kremlin's website on Thursday, May 16.
In the joint statement, the presidents of Russia and China referred to the 20-year presence of the US and NATO in Afghanistan as an "occupation”.
The statement also called for the release of Afghanistan's frozen financial reserves by the US.
It added that the US and NATO should support the post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan and take all necessary measures to release Afghanistan's frozen central bank reserves.
According to the statement, the presidents of Russia and China also expressed their willingness to increase cooperation regarding Afghanistan, both bilaterally and multilaterally, with the goal of transforming Afghanistan into an independent, neutral, peaceful country free of terrorism and drugs.
In this regard, Putin and Xi Jinping emphasised on the active and constructive role of regional formats, including the Moscow format and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in resolving Afghanistan's political issues.
Putin arrived in Beijing on the Thursday morning, May 16. He thanked Xi Jinping for establishing a strategic partnership based on national interests and mutual trust with Russia.
