HERAT // Taliban militants attacked a group of 12 European and American tourists escorted by an Afghan army convoy in western Herat province on Thursday, wounding at least seven people wounded.
The tourists – eight Britons, three Americans and one German – were ambushed by Taliban gunmen in the restive district of Chesht-e-Sharif, while en route from the neighbouring provinces of Bamiyan and Ghor.
It was unclear why they were travelling overland at a time when western embassies typically warn their citizens against all travel in Afghanistan, fearing kidnappings and attacks.
Jilani Farhad, the spokesman for Herat’s governor, said the insurgents had been repelled and that the foreigners were being escorted to Herat city. He said at least six foreigners and their Afghan driver had been wounded.
The attack comes as Taliban militants intensify their annual summer offensive after a brief lull during Ramadan.
Roads passing through insurgency-prone areas of Afghanistan have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travellers.
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The latest attack follows a Taliban truck bombing on Monday at a hotel for foreigners in Kabul, which triggered a seven-hour gun and grenade assault that highlighted growing insecurity in the city.
The guests and staff of the Northgate hotel escaped unharmed, but one policeman was killed after the suicide truck bomber paved the way for two other armed insurgents to enter the heavily guarded facility near Kabul airport.
The attack was a grim reminder of growing insecurity in Afghanistan since most foreign troops withdrew in 2014. The rising violence has resulted in large civilian casualties.
Foreigners are also increasingly being targeted as the conflict escalates.
The United States has warned its citizens in Afghanistan of a “very high” kidnapping risk after an American citizen narrowly escaped abduction in the heart of Kabul.
American journalist David Gilkey and his Afghan translator were killed in June while travelling with an Afghan army unit that came under fire in southern Helmand province.
Aid workers in particular have increasingly been casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.
Judith D'Souza, a 40-year-old Indian charity worker, was rescued in late July, more than a month after she was taken at gunpoint near her residence in the heart of Kabul.
Her abduction came after Katherine Jane Wilson, a well-known Australian NGO worker, was kidnapped on April 28 in the city of Jalalabad, close to the border with Pakistan.
* Agence France-Presse
