Three tourists and an Afghan shot dead in Afghanistan attack | Afghanistan

Three foreign tourists and an Afghan civilian were killed in a shooting in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, the interior ministry said.

Four suspects were arrested at the scene in Bamyan, a major tourist area, and officials said an investigation was underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the late-night attack.

“One Afghan and three foreign nationals were killed” in a shooting on Friday night in the city of Bamiyan, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Khani told AFP.

Four other foreigners and three Afghans were wounded, he added, without specifying the nationality of the foreign victims.

A resident, who did not want to be named, said he “heard the sounds of successive gunshots and city streets leading to the location were immediately blocked by security forces.”

Mountainous Bamyan is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.

Since taking over Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have vowed to restore security and encourage a small but growing number of tourists to the country.

Friday’s attack was among the most serious targeting foreign nationals since foreign forces left the country and the Taliban took power.

The Taliban government “strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and assures that all criminals will be found and punished,” Khani said in a statement.

The blame will likely fall on the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s main rival. IS fighters have carried out dozens of attacks against schools, hospitals, mosques and minority Shia areas throughout the country.