KABUL: A powerful explosion ripped through a Chinese-run restaurant in a hotel in a heavily guarded area of Afghanistan’s capital on Monday, killing seven people — including one Chinese national — and wounding several others, officials said.
The blast occurred in the commercial Shahr-e-Naw neighbourhood, which houses government offices, business centres and foreign missions and is widely regarded as one of the safest districts in Kabul, police spokesperson Khalid Zadran confirmed.
According to Zadran, the restaurant was a Chinese noodle eatery jointly operated by a Chinese Muslim identified as Abdul Majid, his wife, and their Afghan partner, Abdul Jabbar Mahmood. The establishment primarily catered to Kabul’s Chinese Muslim community.
The explosion struck near the kitchen area, killing one Chinese national named Ayub and six Afghans on the spot. Several others were injured, including women and a child.
Footage circulating on social media showed shattered glass, rubble scattered across the street and thick smoke billowing from a large hole blown into the front of the building.
Dejan Panic, Country Director of the humanitarian organisation EMERGENCY in Afghanistan, said his hospital received 20 injured people. “Among them were four women and a child. Unfortunately, seven people were already dead on arrival,” he said.
Authorities did not immediately specify the cause of the blast and said investigations were underway. No group claimed responsibility at the time of reporting.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they have pledged to restore security across Afghanistan, but bombings have continued periodically, many of them attributed to the local affiliate of the Islamic State group.
