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Islamic State claims deadly Afghanistan attack on tourists

  • Three Spanish tourists were killed in attack in Afghanistan’s central Bamiyan province
  • Jihadists said they targeted a ‘bus of tourists who are citizens of coalition countries’

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The entrance to a road leading to the ruins of a Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Three Spanish tourists were killed in an attack in Bamiyan on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack targeting tourists in Afghanistan that killed three Spaniards and three Afghans.

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The jihadist group said in a statement on its Telegram channels that “fighters shot at Christian tourists and their Shiite companions with machine guns” in the mountainous city of Bamiyan on Friday.

The tour group was fired on while shopping in a market in Bamiyan, around 180km (110 miles) west of the capital Kabul.

The jihadists on Sunday said they attacked a “bus of tourists who are citizens of coalition countries”, referring to a US-led coalition that has battled Isis in the Middle East.

The ruins of a 1,500-year-old Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE
The ruins of a 1,500-year-old Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Photo: EPA-EFE

“The attack comes in line with the directives of the leaders of the Islamic State to target nationals of coalition countries wherever they may be,” the statement added.

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