China urges citizens to leave Afghanistan after Kabul attack
Islamabad, Dec 13: China on Tuesday advised its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country "as soon as possible", following a coordinated attack by Islamic State militants the previous day on a Chinese-owned hotel in the heart of Kabul.
The Chinese advisory appeared to be a setback for Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who seek foreign investments in hopes of halting the downward spiral of the Afghan economy since their takeover of the country more than a year ago.
The militant Islamic State group - a key rival of the Taliban - claimed responsibility for the attack Monday afternoon on Kabul Longan Hotel, which left three assailants dead and at least two hotel guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out of a window.
Plumes of smoke rose from the 10-story building in the central Shar-e Naw neighbourhood, according to images posted on social media as the attack unfolded. Residents reported explosions and gunfire.
Taliban forces rushed to the area and blocked all roads leading to the site. Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, said the attack lasted several hours, followed by a clean-up operation.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the attack "egregious in nature" and said China was "deeply shocked".
Beijing demanded a "thorough investigation" and urged the Taliban government "to take resolute and strong measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens, institutions and projects in Afghanistan," Wang said.
The Chinese Embassy in Kabul sent its team to the site to help with the rescue, treatment and accommodations for the victims of the attack, Wang added.
"In view of the current security situation in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again advised Chinese citizens and institutions in Afghanistan to evacuate from Afghanistan as soon as possible," Wang said.
The Taliban swept across the country in August 2021, seizing power as US and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their final withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.
Since their takeover, the international community has balked at extending official recognition to the former insurgents who have broken promises of pursuing a more moderate path forward, including reopening schools to girls beyond the sixth grade and safeguarding minority rights.
The Taliban government has recently also made statements saying it intends to implement Islamic law, or Sharia, as it did when the Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
In the past weeks, the Taliban have carried out executions and public floggings on several occasions of those convicted in Taliban courts of crimes such as murder and adultery.
China has economic and mining interests in the country though those familiar with past talks between the Taliban and Chinese officials say Beijing wants Taliban commitments to prevent China's Uyghur opponents from setting up operations in Afghanistan.
Chinese firms, with strong government backing, have tentatively sought to pursue opportunities in exploiting Afghanistan's vast, undeveloped resource deposits, especially the Mes Aynak mine that is believed to hold the world's largest copper deposit.
In October, Taliban-appointed government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid highlighted China as a key part of Afghanistan's economic development. China has also revealed its aspirations to play a leading role in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a regional conference recently led calls for the US to unfreeze Afghan assets held abroad and end sanctions on the Taliban government.
There was no information on the identities of the injured Chinese guests at the Kabul hotel or what they were doing in Afghanistan.
The IS statement, carried by one of the militant Telegram channels used by the group, said two of its members targeted the hotel because it is frequented by diplomats and owned by "communist China".
It further claimed IS attackers detonated two bags with explosives that were left in the hotel earlier, including one in the main hall, and set fire to a part of the hotel. The militant group offered no proof for its claims.
There were conflicting reports as to the casualty numbers. Taliban officials said three assailants were killed; the IS claim said only two of its members took part in the attack, identifying them by name and posting their photographs. According to Mujahid, the Taliban government spokesman, two foreign residents were injured when they jumped out of hotel windows.
However, the Emergency Hospital in Kabul said in a tweet Monday that it received 21 casualties, including the bodies of three people.
The IS regional affiliate - known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province - has increased its attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
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Sadananda Gowda expresses pain over factionalism in Karnataka BJP, urges central leadership to act
Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday expressed pain over factionalism in the Karnataka unit of his party and called it a " big tragedy". The former Union Minister also expressed displeasure over the party high command's delay in taking action, despite his letters and urged them to intervene and to act against those indulging in "indiscipline".
"There were Maharashtra and Haryana polls, as polls are a big challenge, it is natural to keep aside party issues in the states, where there are no polls, for later. So there may be some delay, but I don't think they will be silent," Gowda said responding to a question on factionalism within the party and high command's silence on it.
Addressing reporters here, he said, "However, there is truth in your question, because I have written two letters, one earlier and the other recently as dissent started brewing. But there was no reply for both, which made me feel that the central leadership was not paying attention to issues here." "It is a tragedy that Karnataka, which is regarded as the gateway for the BJP to south India, today has several doors (referring to groups within)," he added.
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A group of party leaders led by senior MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, that include BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi are critical of state leadership, especially President B Y Vijayendra, and are even holding parallel agitations over the Waqf land issue, after staying away from protests held by the party on the same issue. Yatnal and Jarkiholi have been openly critical of Vijayendra, accusing him of indulging in "adjustment politics" with the ruling Congress, and trying to keep the party in his clutches, along with his father and veteran leader B S Yediyurappa.
Recalling that there was much stronger groupism in the party earlier between the factions led by stalwarts, who built the party in the state -- late Ananth Kumar and Yediyurappa, Gowda, who had also served as the state president in the past, said, "but the rift never came to the streets then."
"In Karnataka BJP's history, this is the first time that the internal confusions within the party have come to the streets. This is painful. None of the so called self styled senior leaders of the party in the state, including me, are in a situation to set this right, while some are not even trying to set things right as it will benefit them, there are such leaders too in the party here. So high command has to intervene," he added.
Despite the ruling Congress in Karnataka giving issues to the opposition in a "golden bowl", Gowda said, the internal differences in the party is overshadowing it, and this has pained the party workers.
"Now I don't have any other responsibility other than being part of the party's core committee, but I'm pained looking at the situation of the party that gave me everything including positions of governing the state..... This is a big tragedy," he said.
Appealing to the party leadership to have a "serious look" at the party affairs in Karnataka before the Delhi elections, the former CM even requested them not to compromise on discipline. If action is taken against those who are wrong after detailed inquiry, the party will unite once again, he said. "People of the state want BJP."
Pointing to the saffron party's defeat in the recent by-polls in Shiggaon, Sandur and Channapatna assembly segments, Gowda said, people are not discussing Congress' maladministration, but division and groupism in the BJP. "Despite the BJP having good ideas and agenda, we lack a strong system to encash it." BJP's weakness of groupism has become Congress' strength, he added. Replying to a question on Yatnal and team not accepting Vijayendra as president, Gowda said, "The state president was appointed by the national leadership and that decision has to be accepted. If anyone has reservations about it, they should tell the leadership and not discuss it on the streets."
