2022 Kabul hotel attack
| 2022 Kabul hotel attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Islamic State–Taliban conflict | |
 Interactive map of 2022 Kabul hotel attack | |
| Location | 34°32′07″N 69°09′55″E / 34.535166°N 69.165335°E Longan Hotel, Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Date | 12 December 2022 14:30 (AFT) |
| Target | Foreigners |
Attack type | Bombing, gun attack, and arson |
| Weapons | 9×18mm Makarov pistols F-1 grenades Plastic explosive |
| Deaths | 6 (including 1 assailant) |
| Injured | 18 |
| Victims | Afghan and foreign civilians, Taliban soldiers |
| Perpetrator |  Islamic State – Khorasan Province |
| Defender |  Afghanistan |
| Motive | Opposition to Taliban cooperation with China |
On 12 December 2022, insurgents attacked the Kabul Longan Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan.[1][2] At least 3 civilians were killed and 18 others, including foreigners, were reported to be injured.[3][1] Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.[4]
Background
[edit]The Islamic State–Taliban conflict began in 2015; since then they have often attacked Kabul. In September 2022, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Russian Embassy in Kabul, killing two Russian diplomats. In early December, gunmen attacked the Pakistani ambassador at his embassy compound in Kabul, wounding a Pakistani guard.[5] On 11 December, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu met Afghan Deputy Foreign minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai to discuss security matters, and called on the Taliban "to pay more attention to the security of the Chinese Embassy in Kabul."[3][5]
The Kabul Longan Hotel is situated in the affluent Shahr-e Naw neighbourhood, a few hundred metres northwest of Shahr-e Naw Park. The area is home to many of Kabul's foreign residence, with the hotel being in close proximity to several embassies. The hotel, frequented primarily by foreigners, is under Chinese ownership and staffed by both Chinese and Afghan employees.[6]
Attack
[edit]On 12 December 2022, at 14:30 local time, two explosions occurred on the upper floors of the hotel, followed by gunfire from two or three attackers.[3] Videos also recorded a number of smaller explosions, with one witnesses placing the initial attack site on the eighth and ninth floor, with the entire attack lasting around an hour. At least four people escaped the upper floors through windows, including one of the attackers.[6]
Victims
[edit]3 people were killed and 18 injured.[3][7] Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahid confirmed the attack ended with all three gunmen killed, and hotel guests were evacuated.[7] Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that five Chinese nationals were among the injured.[7][8]
Responsibility
[edit]On 13 December 2022, jihadist group Islamic State-Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack in a Telegram post through two "inghimassis".[6][9] The IS statement claimed the hotel was attacked because the hotel is frequented by diplomats and is owned by "communist China". The Islamic State has a history of opposition to the Chinese government in relation to the government's persecution of Uyghurs, and has been critical of the Taliban for its willingness to cooperate with China.[10] The statement claimed the attackers detonated pre-planted explosives and set fire to the building.[11]
On 14 December, an IS-K Twitter account posted images and videos taking inside the hotel before the attack, showing Chinese guests in the hotel's restaurant as well as women without hijab and wearing trousers, criticising the Taliban for allowing "obscenity and revelry of the infidels under [the] self-proclaimed Islamic government", accusing the Taliban of apostasy.[6]
On 16 December, the IS magazine Al-Naba claimed that the attackers entered by renting a room with false identity cards and smuggled the weapons insde with "specific tricks", which was interpreted as either referring to lax hotel security or a third co-conspirator within hotel staff. The two attackers took pictures inside their hotel room posing with an Islamic State flag, several explosives, and two handguns while pledging [6]
One of the attackers died during the attack while the second attacker, a Tajik national, managed to escape by scaling down the side of the hotel. This same Tajik IS member would later carry out the 1 January 2023, suicide bombing at Kabul Airport.[12]
In January 2023, the Afghan government launched a number of raids on IS-K hideouts in the country. Eight IS members were killed and seven arrested, with Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid identifying them as having a "main role" in both the hotel attack and the flow of foreign Islamic State fighters into Afghanistan.[13]
See also
[edit]- List of terrorist incidents linked to Islamic State – Khorasan Province
- List of terrorist attacks in Kabul
- List of massacres in Afghanistan
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Kabul hotel attack ends as three gunmen killed". Pakistan Today. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Rai, Arpan (12 December 2022). "Explosion, gunshots heard in Kabul as gunmen attack hotel housing foreigners". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Kabul hotel attack ends as three gunmen killed; two foreigners injured". Reuters. 12 December 2022. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Mukhtar, Ahmad (13 December 2022). "Kabul hotel used by China nationals attacked as perceived allies of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are targeted". CBS News. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ a b Mukhtar, Ahmad (13 December 2022). "Kabul hotel used by China nationals attacked as perceived allies of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are targeted". CBS News. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "ISKP claims attack on Chinese-owned Kabul Longan Hotel - one of the attackers escapes". Centre for Information Resilience. 2 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Popalzai, Ehsan; Yeung, Jessie (13 December 2022). "3 dead and foreign nationals injured after gunmen attack Kabul hotel". CNN. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Baptista, Eduardo (13 December 2022). Heavens, Andrew (ed.). "Five Chinese nationals were wounded in Kabul hotel attack - Chinese foreign ministry". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ Gul, Ayaz (13 December 2022). "China Says Kabul Hotel Attack Injured 5 Chinese Nationals". VOA.
- ^ Ma, Haiyun (19 October 2022). "Afghan Militants Have China in Their Crosshairs". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Faiez, Rahim (13 December 2022). "China urges citizens to leave Afghanistan after Kabul attack". Associated Press. Islamabad, Pakistan. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ "ISKP Claims Suicide Bombing at Kabul Military Airport, Identifies Executor as Surviving Fighter from Chinese Hotel Raid". SITE Intelligence Group. 2 January 2023.
- ^ "Taliban says raids net Isis members behind Kabul Chinese hotel attack". South China Morning Post. 5 January 2023.
