• The witness stated, “There was an extremely loud explosion followed by heavy gunfire.”
• A witness reported hearing a loud explosion and gunfire on Monday in the guest house frequented by Chinese business travelers.
• Since the Taliban’s restoration to power, a substantial number of Chinese businesspeople have travelled to Afghanistan.

Although the Taliban assert that national security has improved since their return to power in August of last year, there have been dozens of bombings and attacks, many of which have been attributed to the local branch of the Islamic State. “There was a huge explosion followed by a barrage of gunfire,” the witness told AFP, while local media also reported similar information.

A #Chines Hotel under attack in the Sharenow area in #Kabul city.
There is a fire in the building . #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/4IU6KAEE23

— Abdulhaq Omeri (@AbdulhaqOmeri) December 12, 2022

The explosion occurred in one of Kabul’s major business districts, Shahr-e-naw, but security officials were not immediately ready to comment.

Since the Taliban’s restoration to power, a substantial number of Chinese businesspeople have visited Afghanistan, and Beijing maintains a full embassy there while not formally acknowledging the rule.

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