KABUL: Three Chinese citizens were shot dead in their apartment in the Afghan capital, while one of two others missing had been found alive, officials said yesterday.
Police said the victims — two women and a man — were shot late on Thursday along with their Afghan guard but their deaths were reported by a neighbour on Friday. “Initial investigations show they were perhaps having fun and killed by a gun with a silencer,” Mohammad Zahir, Head of the Criminal Investigation Department, said.
“Two Chinese men are missing, we have launched an investigation to find them,” he added.
The Chinese embassy in Kabul later said one of the two missing men had been found alive and transferred to a safe place, according to state news agency Xinhua. The Chinese state news agency said the five were self-employed business people and the two women were killed accidentally when they stopped at the apartment while criminals were inside.
The embassy confirmed the incident and asked the government to ensure the safety and security of its citizens and institutions in Afghanistan.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. In the past, the Taliban and criminal groups have been involved in the kidnapping and killing of foreign nationals in Afghanistan.
There are hundreds of Chinese working on various projects in Afghanistan. China, which shares a 76km border with Afghanistan’s far northeast, has secured major oil and copper mining concessions in Afghanistan, believed to have more than $1trn worth of minerals. Afghan officials did not respond to calls yesterday, the last day of the three-day Eid Al Fitr public holiday.
The motive behind the killings was not clear but an official said the attack did not appear to be linked to the huge Aynak copper deposit in Logar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan’s largest foreign investment project run by a Chinese consortium.
In November, Afghanistan’s mining mister said about 150 Chinese workers had returned to the mine after earlier fleeing because of rocket attacks on the project. Agencies
