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China on Tuesday advised its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country "as soon as possible", following a coordinated attack by Islamic State militants the previous day on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul. The Chinese advisory appeared to be a setback for Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who seek foreign investments in hopes of halting the downward spiral of the Afghan economy since their takeover of the country more than a year ago. The militant Islamic State group - a key rival of the Taliban - claimed responsibility for the attack Monday afternoon on Kabul Longan Hotel, which left three assailants dead and at least two hotel guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out of a window. Plumes of smoke rose from the 10-story building in the central Shar-e Naw neighbourhood, according to images posted on social media as the attack unfolded. Residents reported explosions and gunfire. Taliban forces rushed to the area and blocked all roads leading to the site. Khalid
Pakistan has summoned Afghanistan's Charge d'Affaires in Islamabad and conveyed to him its deep concern over the attack on the country's Head of Mission in Kabul, it emerged on Saturday. Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani survived an attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul on Friday, drawing immediate condemnation and a demand for a probe from Islamabad. Nizamani was targeted by unidentified gunmen while taking a walk in the embassy compound. His guard was critically injured in the attack. The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a late-night statement that the Afghan diplomat was summoned on Friday evening and conveyed Pakistan's grave concern over the serious incident in which, thankfully, the Head of Mission remained unhurt but the guard was seriously wounded. The Charge d'Affaires was conveyed that security and protection of Pakistan's diplomatic Missions and personnel was the responsibility of the Afghan Interim Government and that this incident was an extremely serious security lapse, it ...
The Taliban has welcomed India's decision to return their technical team to its embassy in Kabul to continue humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan."Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (lEA) welcomes decision by India to return diplomats & technical team to their embassy in Kabul to continue their relations with the Afghan people and their humanitarian assistance," Taliban spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in a statement on Thursday."The return of Indian diplomats to Afghanistan and reopening of embassy demonstrates that security is established in the country, & all political and diplomatic rights are respected," the statement added.The Taliban spokesperson further assured security for all existing embassies in line with international diplomatic practices. "IEA calls on other countries to return to their diplomatic compounds and reopen their embassies," it added.On Thursday, India announced that a technical team has been deployed to the Embassy in Kabul to coordinate the ...