KABUL: A blast at a Chinese restaurant in central Kabul on Monday killed at least seven people and wounded more than a dozen others, emergency services said.
An AFP journalist saw police vehicles and an ambulance at the scene following the explosion on a street known for its flower sellers in the Shahr-e-Naw area.
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said the explosion occurred at the Chinese Noodle restaurant, which he said mainly served Chinese Muslims.
“A Chinese Muslim, Ayub, and six Afghans were killed, and several others were wounded. The blast occurred near the kitchen,” Zadran said in a statement.
The police spokesman, who said the cause was under investigation, had earlier said the blast hit a hotel.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, the SITE Intelligence Group reported, saying it was a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals.
“Daesh in Afghanistan has placed Chinese nationals on its list of targets, especially in light of the escalating crimes committed by the Chinese government against the oppressed Uyghur Muslims,” the IS statement said.
Italian NGO EMERGENCY said its hospital near the targeted restaurant had received “seven people dead on arrival,” with 13 others admitted to the surgical department.
“Among the wounded are four women and a child,” Dejan Panic, the NGO’s country director, said in a statement.
The owner of a flower shop, requesting anonymity for security reasons, said the blast happened at around 3:30 p.m. (1100 GMT) at the other end of the street from his business.
He told AFP he heard the “strong sound” of a blast in the crowded area.
“It was an emergency situation. Everybody feared for his own life,” he said.
“I could see at least five wounded.”
Within hours of the blast the street was reopened to traffic, with cars streaming past the restaurant’s covered entrance.
Windows in the building opposite were smashed, according to an AFP photographer.
Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to the country and are courting foreign investors to secure crucial revenue streams as foreign aid funding dries up.
Chinese business visitors have flocked to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021 for the second time.
The following year, the Daesh group claimed a deadly attack on a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese guests.
China, which shares a rugged 76-kilometer (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has close ties with the Taliban government.
Explosion at Kabul restaurant kills at least 7
https://arab.news/59vzt
Explosion at Kabul restaurant kills at least 7
- Explosion at a Chinese restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw district of the Afghan capital killed six Afghans and one Chinese
- Daesh claimed it had carried out a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals
TikTok finalizes deal to form new American entity
TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years.
The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to form the new TikTok US joint venture. The new version will operate under “defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for US users,” the company said in a statement Thursday. American TikTok users can continue using the same app.
Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, will lead the new venture as its CEO. He will work alongside a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew.
The deal marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the US if it did not find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration sought an agreement for the sale of the company.
In addition to an emphasis on data protection, with US user data being stored locally in a system run by Oracle, the joint venture will also focus on TikTok’s algorithm. The content recommendation formula, which feeds users specific videos tailored to their preferences and interests, will be retrained, tested and updated on US user data, the company said in its announcement.
Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX are the three managing investors, who each hold a 15 percent share. Other investors include the investment firm of Michael Dell, the billionaire founder of Dell Technologies. ByteDance retains 19.9 percent of the joint venture.
