Chinese man escapes kidnappers in Kabul, 3 dead

A Chinese citizen who went missing following an attack in a Kabul apartment last week has managed to escape from abductors and was sent to the Chinese embassy by US troops, according to the embassy.

The Chinese national, a male, went missing with another Chinese man after a Thursday attack killed three Chinese nationals in a downtown building in Kabul.

According to a statement posted on the website of the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan on Sunday, the Chinese man was forcibly taken to a car driven by an Afghan national on Friday morning, and was held captive. As the car headed out of Kabul, the man managed to untie himself and jumped out of the car. He then ran to a nearby US military base and asked for help.

The US military helped the man and transferred him to the Chinese embassy, said the statement.

The embassy told the Global Times on Sunday another man taken away by attackers is still missing, though earlier reports said he was found dead.

According to the Chinese embassy, Afghan police authorities are seeking the missing Chinese and are attempting to apprehend the murderers.

The three dead, one man and two women, were shot dead on Thursday afternoon in an apartment in the Qalai Fatellah area of Kabul, where they were holding a party, according to General Mohammad Zahir, chief of the criminal department of the Kabul police.

An Afghan guard was also found dead in the apartment.

The police said the deceased were killed by a gun with a silencer, and a neighbor reported the case on Friday.

According to the Chinese embassy, the two female victims were killed after they went to the apartment to check on the situation there.

The embassy said all the five Chinese nationals involved in the attack are self-employed businesspeople. The three victims have been identified and their relatives have been informed.

However, it declined to reveal the identities of the deceased, citing requests by their families.

It remains unclear whether Thursday's killing specifically targeted Chinese nationals.

Zahir said Kabul police have launched a search operation for the missing man and an investigation into why the Chinese nationals were killed; however, no more details are available at present.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A New York Times report quoted local police as saying that the victims were killed due to an argument with some local people, but the Chinese embassy told the Global Times it was yet to be verified.

According to a report from the Beijing Morning Post, there are around 200 Chinese citizens in Afghanistan, and criminal acts against Chinese nationals are rare in the country.

A Global Times reporter has learned that most Chinese people in Kabul are calm in the wake of the incident.