Daesh/ISIS terror group claims responsibility for attack on Spanish tourists in Afghanistan

ANKARA

Daesh/ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack in Afghanistan's central Bamiyan province on Friday that killed three Spanish tourists and their Afghan guide.

The terrorist group on Sunday said in a statement on its Telegram channels that “fighters shot at Christian tourists and their Shiite companions with machine guns.”

The slain tourists and their Afghan guide were shot while shopping in a market in Bamiyan, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of the capital Kabul.

Earlier on Saturday, Taliban’s interim Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee said they had arrested seven suspects in connection with the attack, local media reported.

He added that four foreigners and three Afghans were also injured in the attack.

In mountainous Bamiyan, there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues, one 125 feet (38 meters) tall and the other 180 feet (55 meters) tall. The Taliban blew them up during their previous rule in 2001, and a Japanese team later repaired them.