ISLAMABAD– The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an attack against foreigners in central Afghanistan in which three Spanish citizens and three Afghans died.
Seven people were wounded in Friday’s attack in Bamiyan province, a major tourist area, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the interior minister. He said seven suspects were arrested at the scene.
The Islamic State group issued statements on its Aamaq news agency on Sunday night saying that IS fighters attacked a bus carrying tourists and their guides. “The attack was in response to instructions from IS leaders to attack EU citizens wherever they are,” he said.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said three Spaniards were killed and at least one more was injured. A Taliban official in Bamiyan who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said the four wounded foreigners were from Spain, Norway, Australia and Latvia.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media platform X that he was “overwhelmed” by the news.
Qani said all the injured have been taken to the capital Kabul for treatment and are in stable condition.
The Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan is a major rival to the Taliban and its militants have attacked schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite minority areas across the country.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
The Taliban seek to increase the number of tourists coming to the country. In 2021 there were 691 foreign tourists; in 2022, that number increased to 2,300; and last year it exceeded 7,000.
Bamiyan was the site of two enormous Buddha statues carved into a cliff between the 4th and 6th centuries and destroyed by the Taliban at the behest of Al Qaeda in early 2001.
Separately, a hand grenade exploded in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, killing at least one civilian and wounding three, the Kandahar police chief’s office said.
Police were investigating the explosion near the road to Kandahar airport, the statement said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.
___
Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
