According to Afghan officials, the blast occurred on Monday at a Chinese restaurant located in a heavily guarded area of central Kabul. Six Afghan citizens and one Chinese national were killed, while several others sustained injuries.
The extremist group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Kabul police stated that the exact nature of the explosion is still under investigation. “The cause of the blast has not yet been determined,” city police officials said. 🚨 BIG! A massive IED blast hit near a Chinese restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw area of Kabul on Jan 19.
The attack allegedly targeted a vehicle carrying Chinese officials and may involve rival factions within the Taliban. pic.twitter.com/rQx5lmMnTc
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday that Beijing had lodged an urgent protest with the Afghan authorities. “China has made urgent representations to the Afghan side, demanding that all efforts be made to treat the injured and to take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens,” he said. China has once again advised its nationals to avoid travel to Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said the explosion occurred near the kitchen area of the Chinese Noodle restaurant, located beneath a guesthouse in the Shahr-e-Naw neighbourhood. The restaurant reportedly catered mainly to Chinese Muslim customers and was run by a Chinese Muslim entrepreneur from Xinjiang, along with his wife and an Afghan business partner.
Dejan Panic, Afghanistan director of the humanitarian organisation EMERGENCY, said their hospital received around 20 casualties following the blast. Seven victims were declared dead on arrival, while the injured included four women and a child.
Video footage circulating on social media showed extensive damage to the building, including a large hole torn into one side of the structure. Eyewitnesses told BBC Afghan that a vehicle parked outside the restaurant was completely destroyed, and that local residents rushed critically injured victims to nearby hospitals. Authorities later erected large sheets to shield the damaged site from public view.
In a statement, IS said China was among its targets, citing Beijing’s alleged treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. China has consistently denied accusations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
This is not the first such incident involving Chinese interests in Afghanistan. In 2022, IS claimed responsibility for an attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in Kabul. More recently, Chinese nationals have also been targeted in neighbouring Tajikistan, prompting Beijing to advise its citizens to leave areas near the Tajik-Afghan border.
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