Australian tourist injured in shooting attack in Afghanistan

The Australian man gunned down in a deadly attack on foreign tourists in Afghanistan is in a stable condition in hospital.

The Australian man gunned down in a deadly attack on foreign tourists in Afghanistan is in a stable condition in a Kabul hospital after the horrific shooting.

Joe McDowell was injured after three Spanish tourists and an Afghan were killed in an attack by gunmen in Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province.

The shooting was most likely carried out by Islamic State militants after a spate of attacks across the war-torn nation.

The region is famous for being home to a UNESCO world heritage site and the remains of two giant Buddha statues which were blown up by the Taliban during their previous rule in 2001.

Joe McDowell, the Australian injured in Afghanistan, is in hospital. Picture: X/M Niazi

Mr McDowell, who is believed to be from Perth, was understood to be with a group in the popular tourism destination when the attack took place in front of the Lajord restaurant in the centre of the town about 6pm on Friday, local time, BBC Persian reported.

Jibra’il Omar, an Australian academic previously known as Timothy Weeks, posted a photo on social media platform X.

“Today I visited my Australian brother, Joe McDowell, who is well and is now in Kabul,” he wrote in Persian, adding that Mr McDowell thanked Afghanistan for its support.

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that three Spaniards died in the attack and at least one more was injured.

Afghanistan’s Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed the four deaths to AFP, saying the victims were killed in gunfire Friday evening in Bamyan city.

Another four foreigners and three Afghans were wounded, he added. Four people have been arrested.

Preliminary information provided by hospital sources revealed the wounded were from Norway, Australia, Lithuania and Spain.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is providing consular assistance to an Australian in Afghanistan, but did not provide further information.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we cannot provide further comment,” they said.

A local resident, who did not want to be named, said he “heard the sounds of successive gunshots, and the city streets leading to the site were blocked immediately by the security forces”.

The Taliban government “strongly condemns this crime, expresses its deep feelings to the families of the victims and assures that all the criminals will be found and punished”, Qani said in a statement.

details an event in Bamyan Province:

Unfortunately This evening in the Bamyan city, there was a shooting against the public, in which three foreigners including one Afghan were killed and four foreigners including three Afghans were injured.
1/3

— Mufti Abdul Mateen Qani - مفتي عبدالمتين قانع (@abdulmateenqani) May 17, 2024

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Overwhelmed by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan.”

The European Union condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.”

“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack,” the body said in a statement.

Diplomatic sources said they were seeking to confirm the information, including the identities of the dead.

Tourists have been travelling to the country in increasing numbers in recent years as security has improved since the Taliban ended their insurgency after ousting the US-backed government.

A Buddha statue in Bamyan, Afghanistan. The statue was destroyed by the Taliban regime in 2001.

Arriving in western Herat province Friday evening, a foreign tourist posted on a WhatsApp group for travellers in Afghanistan that he and others were stopped by the Taliban authorities and told “that because of Bamyan we were no longer safe”.

“After some time and Google translate, we convinced them to let us go, they said go eat quickly and get off the streets,” the tourist said.

The Bamyan region is majority inhabited by members of the Hazara Shiite community.

The historically persecuted religious minority has been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State (IS) group, which considers them heretics.

The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has reduced dramatically since the Taliban authorities took power.

Originally published as Australian tourist injured in shooting attack in Afghanistan