The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack on a Chinese restaurant in central Kabul, which police and rescue workers said killed at least seven people, according to the SITE monitoring group, AFP and Reuters reported.
"Islamic State in Afghanistan" "has included Chinese citizens on its list of targets, especially in light of the escalating crimes committed by the Chinese government against the oppressed Uighur Muslims," the militant group said in a statement, as cited by SITE.
Police cars and an ambulance were dispatched to the scene after the explosion, which occurred on a street known for its florists. The restaurant is owned by a Chinese Muslim.
"A Chinese Muslim, Ayub, and six Afghans were killed and many others were injured," said Khalid Zadran, a police spokesman in the Afghan capital. "The explosion occurred near the kitchen." at the noodle shop, which is mainly frequented by Chinese Muslims, he added.
Zadran stressed that an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the tragedy. Earlier reports said the explosion had taken place "in a hotel".
The Italian NGO Emergency said it had received seven bodies and thirteen people were being treated for surgery at a hospital it runs not far from the usually bustling restaurant-filled area.
"Among the injured are four women and a child," Dejan Panik, the NGO's director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
Afghan authorities have vowed to restore security in their country and attract foreign investors as international aid dries up. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Chinese businessmen have been flocking to Afghanistan.
As early as 2022, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Kabul hotel frequented by Chinese clients. China, which shares a 76-kilometer border with Afghanistan, maintains close ties with the Taliban government, AFP recalls.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed the situation of Syrian Kurds with his American counterpart Donald Trump, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a statement from his office.
The conversation took place a day after the conclusion of an agreement between Damascus and the Kurds, including provisions for a ceasefire.
"The two sides stressed the need to guarantee the rights and protection of the Kurdish people within the framework of the Syrian state:, the presidency said in a statement. The two leaders also "reaffirmed the importance of preserving the unity and independence of Syrian territory." The two leaders also agreed to continue cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group, Reuters noted, recalling that tensions between Damascus and the Kurds continued after the signing of the integration agreement. The Kurdish website Rudaw reported that about 1,500 Islamic State members had escaped from a prison in the Syrian town of Ash Shadadi, citing a statement by the spokesman for the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Farhad Shami, Reuters reported. The Syrian army had earlier said that Islamic State fighters had escaped from a prison under the control of the SDF in the eastern town. The army accused the SDF of freeing them, but did not specify their number.
Yesterday, it appeared that a broad agreement between the Syrian government and the country's main Kurdish force was about to collapse a day after it was signed, the Associated Press notes.
Following fresh clashes yesterday, the SDF issued a statement calling on "all our youth" to "join the ranks of the resistance".
"Just as our comrades in 2014 created a historic resistance in Kobani and turned it into a graveyard for (the "Islamic State" group)... today we affirm with the same determination that we will turn our cities... into a graveyard for the new people with (the "Islamic State" mindset) who are led by Turkey," the statement stressed.
Earlier yesterday, Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters clashed around two prisons holding Islamic State members in northeastern Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said several of their fighters were killed and more than a dozen others were wounded.
The clashes came as SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was in Damascus to discuss a ceasefire deal reached on Sunday that ended days of deadly fighting that saw government forces seize large swathes of northeastern Syria from the SDF. Abdi did not comment on the meeting. The SDF, the main U.S.-backed force fighting IS in Syria, controls more than 10 prisons in the northeast where some 9,000 IS members have been held without trial for years. Many of the militants detained are believed to have committed atrocities in Syria and Iraq since IS declared a "caliphate" in June 2014 over large swaths of Syria and Iraq.