Daesh has claimed that 30 Chinese citizens and Taliban guards were killed and injured in a suicide attack carried out by the terrorist group at an upmarket hotel in Kabul on Monday, per a statement released by the proscribed group hours after the incident.
The statement, as reported by terrorist activity monitoring group SITE Intelligence, claims that two of its fighters detonated explosives which had been previously planted at Kabul’s Longan Hotel. The third gunman allegedly ambushed hotel guests, causing injuries and fatalities.
The statement noted that the hotel is popular with Chinese businessmen and delegates visiting Kabul.
The statement also said that Daesh terrorists hurled grenades and opened gunfire on the Taliban’s security guards as they tried to enter the hotel.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Tuesday that five Chinese nationals were wounded in the suicide attack. He said that it also left several Afghan security personnel dead.
“This terror attack is abominable and China is deeply shocked. We firmly oppose all forms of terrorism. We express our grief for the Afghan military police who died, and express sympathies for the injured,” Wang stated.
A statement from Taliban’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Monday said that only two foreigners were injured in the attack. He said that all the three attackers were killed by security agencies.
Kabul’s Emergency Hospital, which is run by an Italian nonprofit, claimed that 18 people were injured and three left dead in the suicide attack, as per casualties received by the medical facility.
The attack took place just a day after Wang Yu, Chinese’s envoy to Afghanistan, expressed concerns over the safety of the Chinese mission in Kabul during a meeting with Afghanistan’s Interim Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai.
The meeting between the Chinese envoy and the Taliban delegate took place days after the Pakistani diplomatic mission in Kabul was stormed by Daesh fighters earlier this month, in what Islamabad described as an assassination bid against Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani, its top diplomat in the neighboring country.
A Pakistani guard was left injured in the attack.
In September, Daesh also claimed responsibility for a bomb blast at the entrance of the Russian diplomatic mission in Kabul, which left two Russian staffers dead.
Russia, China, and Pakistan are among the few countries which have maintained a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan since its capital Kabul was taken over by the Taliban last August.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State, is a terrorist group banned in many countries, including Russia.
**Taliban is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities.