At least three people were killed and 18 others wounded in an attack targeting the Chinese Longan Hotel which is frequented by Chinese citizens and other foreigners in downtown Kabul. The Islamic State-Khurasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack.
In a video posted on its Telegram channel, the ISKP filmed two of its fighters claiming that they have carried out the attack on the hotel “frequented by Chinese diplomats and businessmen” in Kabul.
The ISKP detailed that its fighters detonated explosives among Chinese guests at a party and in the hotel’s reception hall.
The attack started around 02:30 PM local time on Monday, December 12, and lasted nearly five hours.
Three hours into the attack, Kabul Emergency Hospital confirmed in a tweet that it received 21 casualties – three already dead on arrival – from the hotel attack.
Almost five hours later, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, wrote on his Twitter account that the attack ended after Taliban security forces killed “3 attackers.”
He added that all guests in the hotel were rescued and no foreign national was killed in the attack.
Mujahid, however, confirmed that two Chinese citizens were “slightly injured” as they escaped jumping from the hotel’s balcony.
In a documentary released on November 24, Aljazeera reveals that the Longan Hotel is owned and opened by a Chinese investor named Zhang Mingkuan. The Chinese investor has invested “almost half a million dollars” and opened the hotel only two weeks after he came to Afghanistan in January 2022.
ISKP attacked the Chinese hotel just a day after China’s ambassador Wang Yu met with the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai.
At the meeting, the Chinese ambassador called on the ruling group to “pay more attention” to the security of China’s Embassy in Kabul.
After the attack started, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency confirmed that the attack happened near a Chinese guest house and its embassy was closely monitoring the situation.
The embassy, however, has not provided any official updates regarding the attack from its side so far.
This is the first attack against Chinese citizens ever since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. Contrary to their claims, the Taliban have largely failed to ensure security and prevent lethal attacks, particularly those of the ISKP, in Afghanistan’s major cities.
ISKP terrorists have launched deadly attacks, including attacks on the embassies of Russia and Pakistan, in recent months.
Though the Taliban regime is not officially recognized by any country, China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran have maintained a significant diplomatic presence in Kabul.
