KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the regional affiliate of Islamic State, has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Kabul that killed at least seven people, including a Chinese national, and injured more than a dozen others.
The explosion occurred Monday evening inside a Chinese-run restaurant, Chinese Noodle, located in a hotel in Kabul’s Shahr-e-Naw neighborhood, a heavily guarded commercial area. At least seven people were killed, and 13 others, including four women and one child, were injured, according to the humanitarian Emergency Hospital.
Taliban authorities confirmed the blast and the reported casualties, identifying one of the deceased as a Chinese national, Abdul Majid, a Muslim man who, together with his wife and an Afghan partner, ran the restaurant inside the hotel. The surrounding area, which includes office buildings, shopping complexes, and embassies, is considered one of the safest parts of Kabul.
In a statement published on Amaq, ISKP’s media outlet, the group said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber targeting Chinese nationals, citing “growing crimes by the Chinese government against Uyghurs.” The statement said, “The Islamic State in Afghanistan has placed Chinese nationals on its list of targets, especially in light of the escalating crimes committed by the Chinese government against the oppressed Uyghur Muslims.”
The Chinese government and its embassy in Kabul have yet to comment on the incident. The country recently advised its citizens to leave the border region between Tajikistan and Afghanistan after several Chinese workers were killed in attacks that Tajik officials said were carried out by terrorists crossing the border.
This is not the first ISKP attack targeting Chinese nationals in Afghanistan. In December 2022, the group claimed responsibility for a bombing at a Chinese-operated hotel in Kabul that killed and injured at least 21 people, with two Chinese citizens among the wounded.
Despite Taliban claims of having restored security and dismantled ISKP, the terror group continues to carry out attacks, targeting ethnic minorities, Taliban members, and foreign nationals. Since the Taliban’s return to power, ISKP has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly incidents across Afghanistan.
A United Nations report last year described ISKP as the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan and the wider region, noting its active presence in eastern and northern provinces such as Nangarhar, Kunar, and parts of Badakhshan, as well as its urban terror campaigns and online recruitment efforts in multiple languages.
