ISIS claims to have ‘triggered 25 casualties’ in horror suicide restaurant bombing
Women and children are reported to be among the injured – This is a breaking news story and is constantly being updated as the story develops
The scene following the explosion (Image: SAMIULLAH POPAL/EPA/Shutterstock)
ISIS has reportedly claimed to have caused 25 casualties in suicide attack targeting Chinese hotel in Shahr-e Naw area of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Khalid Zadran, spokesperson for the Kabul Police Command, says that around 3pm on Monday, an explosion occurred near the kitchen of a joint Afghan-Chinese Muslim restaurant named “Chinese Noodle” in the Gul-Frooshi Street area of Chahar Rahi Shahr-e-Naw in the Afgan capital.
He added that seven people, including a Chinese citizen named Ayub who was Muslim, were killed and several others were injured. The restaurant was run together by a Chinese Muslim, Abdul Majid, his wife, and an Afghan partner, Abdul Jabbar Mahmood.
It served the Chinese Muslim community, Zadran added. The exact nature of this explosion is still not clear and investigations are ongoing.
The Taliban-run interior ministry confirmed deaths and injuries soon after the blast, saying details were still emerging.
“According to preliminary reports, a number of people were killed and injured,” Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.
Meanwhile, Dejan Panic, humanitarian group EMERGENCY’s Country Director in Afghanistan, told Reuters that at least 20 injured people have been admitted to hospital so far, which includes four women and a child.
The Afghan branch of ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a statement that said it was carried out by a suicide bomber, reports Al Jazeera.
Videos of the shocking incident have appeared on social media and show debris scattered on the street outside while smoke spirals from a giant hole in the front of the restaurant building.
The district is considered one of the safest in the city. It is inhabited by foreign nationals and includes large office buildings shopping complexes and embassies.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
