Islamic State claims responsibility for Chinese killed in Afghanistan

KABUL: The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Chinese national in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province, in a post on its Telegram channel late on Wednesday.

Afghan police in the province had said on Wednesday that a Chinese citizen was murdered and a preliminary investigation had been launched, but it was not clear who was behind the attack.

The Islamic State said it had targeted a vehicle carrying the Chinese citizen, which led to his death and damage to his vehicle.

China was the first country to appoint an ambassador to Afghanistan under the Taliban and has said it wants to boost trade and investment ties.

The Taliban took over in 2021, vowing to restore security to the war-torn nation.

Attacks have continued, including an assault in 2022 on a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese investors. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for many of them.

On Wednesday, United States had freed an Afghan convicted by an American court on charges of drug smuggling and terrorism in exchange for two US citizens held in Afghanistan, authorities in Kabul said on Tuesday.

Afghan officials said the man, Khan Mohammad, had landed in Kabul after being released. Mohammad was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 by a U.S. court, which was the first conviction on narco-terrorism charges, according to the US Department of Justice.

Mohammad told local media organisation Hurriyat in a video interview on Tuesday that he had left prison on Jan. 16.

“Thanks to the support and assistance of the Islamic Emirate and, by God’s grace, I was freed,” he said, referring to the Taliban’s name for its government.

The prisoner exchange was the result of “long and productive” negotiations between Afghan and American authorities, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Mohammad was arrested in eastern Afghanistan in 2006 and extradited to the U.S a year later, according to the DOJ website.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban administration, confirmed that two Americans had been released, but declined to identify them.

One of the Americans released was named Ryan Corbett, according to a statement on a site run by his family. Corbett had been in Taliban detention since 2022, the family site said

“We are overwhelmed with joy that Ryan is on his way home,” the family said on the site.

CNN and the New York Times reported on Sunday that the other American released was William McKenty.

“The Islamic Emirate views the actions of the United States positively when they contribute to normalizing and expanding relations between the two countries,” Afghanistan’s foreign ministry statement said.

It thanked Qatar for its role in the exchange.