3 Tourists, 1 Afghan Shot Dead Near UNESCO World Heritage Site In Afghanistan

Gunmen in Afghanistan have killed three Spanish tourists and one Afghan national in one of the worst attack in the history of the nation.

The mountainous region of Bamiyan is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Three Spanish tourists and one Afghan national were killed by gunmen in the Bamiyan province of central Afghanistan on Friday. Taliban Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qaniee said four foreigners and three Afghans were also wounded in the attack. While he did not provide details of the nationalities of the foreigners, at least one of them from Spain, according to news agency Reuters.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took to social media platform X, saying “shocked by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan”.

As per The Guardian, the Spanish foreign ministry said that the consular emergency unit had been fully mobilised, to provide assistance to victims and their families. The Afghan foreign ministry said that there no one has claimed responsibility for the late-evening attack yet. However, four suspects have been arrested from the scene in Bamiyan, Afghan officials were quoted as saying. 

"The Taliban government strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished," Qani said in a statement, as per The Guardian. While speaking to the news outlet, a local said that he heard successive gunshots, and “the city streets leading to the site were blocked immediately by the security forces”.

According to Reuters, this attack was among the worst targeting citizens of other nations since foreign forces left and the Taliban took over in 2021.

The mountainous region of Bamiyan is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.

The Taliban have vowed to restore security and encourage a small but growing number of tourists to visit the country. The Taliban has sold tickets to access the site of the Buddha statues since they came back to power in Afghanistan in 2021. 

The blame is likely to fall on the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, a Taliban rival. IS militants have carried out several attacks on schools, hospitals mosques and minority Shia areas, throughout the country, as per The Guardian.