In Afghanistan, six dead in an attack on a group of tourists in the Bamiyan bazaar

An attack on tourists on Friday May 19 in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, left six dead, the Taliban government announced on Saturday. The bodies of three Spaniards and three Afghan nationals, as well as many wounded, were transported to Kabul.

The victims were the target of gunfire on Friday at the end of the day while they were in the bazaar of this city in the center of the country, the spokesperson told Agence France-Presse (AFP). words of the Afghan Ministry of the Interior, Abdul Mateen Qani.

Located some 180 km from the Afghan capital, Bamiyan, the site of the giant Buddhas dynamited by the Taliban in 2001, is Afghanistan’s leading tourist destination.

This deadly attack is apparently the first against foreign tourists in Afghanistan since the return to power of the Taliban in August 2021. Madrid confirmed, on Saturday, the death of its three nationals, who were part of a “group of six Spaniards affected by the attack”.

The spokesperson for the Kabul government reported “three Afghan citizens killed in attack”, including a Taliban and two civilians. According to local officials, the civilians worked for a tourism agency. The Taliban, who were in charge of security, opened fire when the shooting broke out.

The attacker “was there for the foreigners”

Anne-France Brill, who was taking part in an organized trip, describes the seconds of terror when an armed man approached the group’s vehicles while walking and opened fire. ” There was blood everywhere “she says from Dubai, where she landed on Saturday, after being evacuated from Kabul. ” One thing is certain “she assures the attacker “was there for the strangers”.

The Taliban authorities specified that the dead and wounded had been transported to Kabul during the night from Friday to Saturday, by road. The weather conditions did not allow air transport, a diplomatic source told AFP.

According to the Italian NGO Emergency, present at the Kabul hospital, the people admitted to the establishment were from Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Australia and Afghanistan. “The injured arrived at 3 a.m. this morning (11:30 p.m. Friday, in Paris), approximately ten hours after the incident”said the director of Emergency in Afghanistan, Dejan Panic, in a press release. “The Afghan citizen is the one whose condition is the most critical, but all patients are now stabilized”he added.

A seriously injured Spanish woman was operated on in Kabul, according to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Spain, like other Western countries, evacuated its embassy in 2021, when the Taliban took power. The Spanish authorities are working in coordination with the European Union (EU) delegation in Kabul.

The EU condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”and the UN mission in Afghanistan said “deeply shocked and dismayed by this deadly terrorist attack”adding that she was helping to manage the situation.

“The modus operandi shows that it is an attack”

“Seven suspects were arrested, one of whom was injured”, announced the spokesperson for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Abdul Mateen Qani. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares did not rule out the presence of several attackers. “It is possible that other people may have fired”he declared on the TVE channel, estimating that “the modus operandi shows that it is an attack”.

With its turquoise lakes and mountains, the province of Bamiyan, known for its dynamited Buddhas, is the most touristy in Afghanistan. It is mainly inhabited by members of the Hazara community, Shiites. These are regularly targeted by deadly attacks by the Sunni Islamic State (IS) organization, generally carried out with explosive devices against vehicles.

After more than forty years of deadly conflicts, security has generally returned to Afghanistan since 2021, but ISIS continues to carry out attacks.

“The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep regrets to the families of the victims, and guarantees that all the criminals will be found and punished”declared the spokesperson for the Afghan Interior Ministry on Friday.

This attack on tourists comes as Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, tries to open up to tourism. Despite the lack of infrastructure and the scarcity of cultural sites after the destruction and pillaging of wars, foreign tourism is beginning to emerge in this country with an extremely welcoming population and grandiose landscapes.

The number of foreign visitors to Afghanistan has increased by 120% to nearly 5,200 in 2023, over one year, according to official figures. But Western countries all advise against going there, precisely because of the risk of attacks or kidnappings.