Loud Blast, Shots Heard Near China Hotel In Afghan Capital

A loud blast and gunfire were heard in the Afghan capital Monday near a hotel popular with Chinese business visitors, a witness said. The district is home to the Kabul Longan Hotel, a multi-storey complex popular with Chinese business people who are visiting Afghanistan in increasing numbers since the Taliban's return. A Taliban source based in Pakistan told AFP that an unknown number of attackers had entered the hotel. The Taliban have promised that Afghanistan would not be used as a base for militants and, in exchange, China has offered economic support and investment for Afghanistan's reconstruction. The Taliban are at pains to portray Afghanistan as safe for diplomats and business people but two Russian embassy staff members were killed in a suicide bombing outside the mission in September in an attack claimed by IS. IBT Fast Start - Let the best of International News come to you. Despite owning the rights to major projects in Afghanistan, notably the Mes Aynak copper mine, China has not pushed any of these projects forward. The Taliban are reliant on China to turn one of the world's largest copper deposits into a working mine that would help the cash-strapped and sanctions-hit nation recover.