According to reports, Australian Joe McDowell, who was hurt in a shooting in central Afghanistan that claimed six lives, is making a full recovery in the hospital.
Australian academic Jibra’il Omar, formerly known as Timothy Weeks, stated on social media that McDowell was receiving treatment in Kabul.
“Today I visited my Australian brother, Joe McDowell, who is well and is now in Kabul,” he wrote in Persian.
According to Taliban and Spanish officials on Saturday, three Afghans and three Spanish nationals were slain when militants opened fire in central Afghanistan.
Four individuals had perished, according to officials earlier.
At first, no one took credit for the attack on Friday night.
According to Abdul Mateen Qani, an interior minister spokeswoman, seven individuals were taken into custody at the scene in Bamiyan province, a popular tourist destination, and an investigation was underway on Saturday.
He said there were seven more injured.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that three Spaniards had killed and at least one more had been wounded in the incident, although Qani did not disclose the nationalities of the foreign nationals.
Speaking under oath due to his lack of authorization to address the media, a Taliban officer in Bamiyan said that the four foreigners who had been injured were from Spain, Norway, Australia, and Latvia.
The news “overwhelmed” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who posted on social media site X.
According to Qani, all of the injured have received treatment in the capital city of Kabul and are in stable condition.
The attack on civilians surprised and horrified the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the mission stated.
“We express our condolences to the victims of the attack, and are providing assistance following the incident,” UNAMA reported on X.
The attack is most likely to be attributed to the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan, a significant adversary of the Taliban.
Numerous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques, and locations home to Shiite minorities have been carried out by IS militants around the nation.
As US and NATO soldiers prepared to leave Afghanistan after 20 years of conflict, the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021.
The Associated Press visited the Taliban-run tourism and hospitality training center in Kabul in April. The goal of the Taliban is to attract more tourists to the nation.
There were 691 international visitors in 2021, 2300 in 2022, and over 7000 in the previous year.
Most people undoubtedly know Bamiyan best for the location of two enormous Buddha sculptures that were carved into the cliff face during the fourth and sixth centuries.
In early 2001, the Taliban demolished these monuments at al-Qaida’s request.
Omar was freed in 2019 after nearly four years of captivity by the Taliban.
