Tags
At least six foreign tourists and their driver were wounded in Afghanistan on Thursday in an attack by gunmen on their convoy as it passed through western Herat province, government officials said.
The group of at least a dozen travelers included eight British citizens, three Americans and one German, but the nationalities of the casualties were not clear, said Jilani Farhad, a spokesman for Herat's governor.
He said security forces had been sent to the scene.
The convoy, reportedly escorted by security forces, was on its way from scenic Bamiyan province in central Afghanistan to the city of Herat in the west when it was attacked, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Both officials described the foreigners as tourists.
Photographs published by local media in Herat showed uniformed men standing around what appeared to be the burned remains of a small bus outfitted with a roof rack for luggage.
The group was taken to local clinics where they were treated for generally light injuries, Farhad said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in posts on Twitter they had killed the foreign "invaders" as well as seven "slave" Afghan soldiers.
The British Embassy in Kabul was providing assistance to its citizens affected by the attack and were coordinating with Afghan officials, spokeswoman Jenny Jones said.
A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin confirmed that the German national was involved but unharmed in the attack.
The American Embassy did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Several foreign tourism companies advertise adventure tours to Afghanistan online, including one British firm which had a trip scheduled to the area in Herat this week.
Afghanistan remains locked in a violent insurgency and Western embassies typically warn their citizens against all but essential travel in the country, citing threats of attack and kidnapping.
Bamiyan, home to Afghanistan's first national park, is one of the country's more peaceful areas and attracts some of the few tourists who do visit.
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.