At leave 5 people were killed and 8 wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan’s Khost city on Monday. Sources said a suspected drone attack targeted a hotel frequented by militants from Pakistan’s Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.
Afghan officials confirmed an explosion at Zardan Hotel and said that they were investigating the cause.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion at around 11am and smoke plumes were seen rising over the city.
Sources in Islamabad told Aaj News on Monday afternoon that several key commanders of the faction had been killed in the attack.
A list issued by a Khot hospital and released to social media by Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary indicated five people were killed and eight wounded. Two of the dead were identified as Gul Rauf, a 28-year-old Afghan national from Khost, and Abdur Razzaque, whose nationality remains unknown.
Three other dead were not identified and their nationalities and ages were also not listed.
The list identified the injured with their names and addresses – all but one from Afghanistan. One person was from a Waziristan refugee camp.
There was no official confirmation about the nature of the explosion. Local Afghan sources say that the attack was carried out by a drone.
A source said the target of the attack was Hafiz Gul Bahadur himself.
Khorasan Diary, a Twitter account reporting on the region, described the attack as an aerial strike, without explaining how it was carried out.
It said Qari Zadran hotel is located in the centre of Khost and reported that several people were trapped under the rubble.
“I am told that there was an explosion which caused the hotel roof to collapse. People are trapped inside. Troops of the Islamic Emirate have cordoned off the area and no one is allowed to go inside,” the Khorasan Diary quoted an unnamed senior Pakistani Taliban commander as saying on the phone.
A press note issued by the Khost press office said that after the explosion, security forces arrived at the site and were investigating the nature of the incident.
The note said that the leadership of the provincial administration has issued necessary instructions to the officials of the health department for the treatment of the injured.
A local official said the hotel in question was located near the Spin Mosque in Khost city.
The Afghan interior ministry official, Khalid Zardan, claimed the victims included Pakistani nationals from Waziristan as well as Khost citizens. At least three people had died, he said.
Hafiz Gul Bahadur, 61, is the leader of a Pakistani Taliban faction based in North Waziristan, known as Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group.
He was originally part of the TTP and served as deputy to Baitullah Mehsud, who was based in South Waziristan but later formed his own faction.
Gul Bahadur, a direct descendant of Mirzali Khan, is a member of the Madda Khel clan of the Uthmanzai Waziris.
