Afghan Hazara ladies stroll alongside a highway close to the location of the Buddhas of Bamiyan statues, which have been destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, in Bamiyan province on March 7, 2024. Agence France-Presse
KABUL — Vacationers wounded in an assault in Afghanistan which left three Spaniards and three Afghans useless have been in a steady situation, a hospital stated Saturday, as a survivor described the horror of the capturing in an open market.
The group was fired on whereas purchasing within the bazaar within the mountainous metropolis of Bamiyan, round 180 kilometers (110 miles) from the capital Kabul, on Friday.
French vacationer Anne-France Brill, one of many dozen overseas vacationers on an organized tour, stated a gunman on foot approached the group’s automobiles and opened hearth.
READ: Conflict tourism in Afghanistan: journey or reckless hedonism?
“There was blood in all places,” the 55-year-old informed AFP from Dubai, the place she landed Saturday after being evacuated from Kabul with two People.
“One factor is for certain,” she stated, the assailant “was there for the foreigners”.
Brill, who works in advertising and lives close to Paris, stated she helped gather the bloodied belongings of her wounded fellow vacationers earlier than a Taliban escort introduced them to the capital, the place they have been taken in by a European Union delegation.
The assault is believed to be the primary lethal assault on overseas vacationers for the reason that Taliban returned to energy in 2021 in a rustic the place few nations have a diplomatic presence.
The our bodies of these killed have been transported to Kabul in a single day Friday, together with the wounded and survivors, after dangerous climate made an airlift unattainable.
Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, acquired the injured who it stated have been from Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Australia and Afghanistan.
“The wounded individuals arrived at our hospital at 3:00 am (2230 GMT Friday) this morning, about 10 hours after the incident came about,” stated Dejan Panic, Emergency’s nation director in Afghanistan, in an announcement.
“The Afghan nationwide was probably the most critically injured, however all sufferers are actually steady,” he added.
Spain’s authorities on Friday introduced that three of the useless have been Spanish vacationers.
Its overseas ministry stated one of many wounded was additionally a Spanish girl, who had been critically injured and underwent surgical procedure in Kabul.
The useless included three Afghans — two civilians and a Taliban member, the federal government’s inside ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani stated.
Native officers stated the civilians have been working with the tour group, whereas the Taliban safety official had returned hearth when the capturing broke out.
No declare of duty
“Overwhelmed by the information of the homicide of Spanish vacationers in Afghanistan,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on social media platform X.
The our bodies of the useless would seemingly be introduced again to Spain on Sunday, the nation’s overseas minister Jose Manuel Albares stated on Spanish public tv TVE.
Spanish diplomats have been headed to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Qatar, the place the Spanish ambassador to the nation is at present based mostly.
The Spanish embassy was evacuated in 2021, together with different Western missions, after the Taliban took again management of Kabul, ending a bloody decades-long insurgency in opposition to overseas forces.
Spanish authorities have additionally been coordinating with a European Union delegation within the capital.
Inside ministry spokesman Qani stated seven suspects had been arrested, “of which one is wounded”.
“The investigation remains to be happening and the Islamic Emirate is critically wanting into the matter,” he added.
There has not but been a declare of duty.
The EU condemned the assault “within the strongest phrases”.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, stated it was “deeply shocked and appalled by the lethal terrorist assault” in Bamiyan, including it had supplied help after the incident.
Fledgling tourism sector
The Taliban authorities has but to be formally acknowledged by any overseas authorities.
It has, nonetheless, supported a fledgling tourism sector, with greater than 5,000 overseas vacationers visiting Afghanistan in 2023, based on official figures.
READ: Afghanistan’s blue mountain lakes abandoned as vacationers keep away
Western nations advise in opposition to all journey to the nation, warning of kidnap and assault dangers.
Alongside safety considerations, the nation has restricted highway infrastructure and a dilapidated well being service.
A number of overseas tourism firms provide guided package deal excursions to Afghanistan, typically together with visits to highlights in cities akin to Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Bamiyan.
Bamiyan is Afghanistan’s prime vacationer vacation spot, as soon as house to the large Buddha statues that have been blown up by the Taliban in 2001 throughout their earlier rule.
The variety of bombings and suicide assaults in Afghanistan has fallen dramatically for the reason that Taliban authorities took energy, and lethal assaults on foreigners are uncommon.
Nevertheless, quite a lot of armed teams, together with the Islamic State group, stay a menace.
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The jihadist group has waged a marketing campaign of assaults on overseas pursuits in a bid to weaken the Taliban authorities, concentrating on the Pakistani and Russian embassies in addition to Chinese language businessmen.