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Islamic State claimed responsibility on Monday for a suicide bombing at a Chinese restaurant in Afghanistan that killed more than half a dozen people.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Kani said, told the New York Times The attack was carried out by an individual associated with ISIS-Khorasan, commonly known as ISIS-K, one of the most deadly branches of the terrorist group.
According to the Times, ISIS-K has claimed that it targets Chinese citizens as retaliation for Beijing’s treatment of the Muslim minority group Uighurs and has also condemned the Afghan government’s relations with China.
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Workers clean up the scene as Taliban police secure the area after an explosion at a Chinese restaurant a day earlier, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed at least seven people, including a Chinese national. (Siddiqullah Alizai/AP)
Kabul Police Command spokesman Khalid Zadran told X that seven people were killed in the blast, including six Afghans and one Chinese national. Many others were injured.
Zadran said the blast occurred around 3 p.m. local time at a Chinese noodle restaurant in Kabul’s Shahr-e-Nawa area that was jointly run by Abdul Majeed, a Chinese Muslim from Xinjiang province, his wife, and an Afghan named Abdul Jabbar Mahmood.
“The explosion occurred near the kitchen. The nature of the explosion is still unknown, investigation is ongoing,” he said.
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The interior of a Chinese restaurant is seen a day after an explosion killed at least seven people, including a Chinese national, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Siddiqullah Alizai/AP)
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiaqun told reporters A press conference on Tuesday was told that one Chinese citizen was killed and five others were injured in the attack.
Jiaqun expressed condolences to the families and said officials from the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan had visited the injured in the hospital. He said China urged the Afghan government to do more to keep Chinese citizens and institutions safe.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun takes a question from a journalist at a news conference in Beijing, China, on January 7, 2025. (Florence Lo/Reuters)
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“China strongly condemns and firmly opposes any form of terrorism, and supports Afghanistan and regional countries in jointly fighting all forms of terrorist and violent activities,” he said.
“In view of the current security situation in Afghanistan, the ministry once again advises Chinese citizens not to travel to Afghanistan in the near future and asks Chinese citizens and companies already in Afghanistan to take extra precautions, increase security and leave high-risk areas as soon as possible.”
