Three Afghan nationals and three Spanish tourists were killed in central Afghanistan’s Bamyan province, the Taliban government has said, as it raised the death toll from the attack in a market.

The group was fired on while walking through a bazaar in the mountainous city of Bamyan, about 180km (110 miles) from Kabul, on Friday.

“All dead bodies have been shifted to Kabul and are in the forensic department and the wounded are also in Kabul. Both dead and wounded include women,” Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told the AFP news agency.

“Among the eight wounded, of whom four are foreigners, only one elderly foreign woman is not in a very stable situation.”

According to hospital sources in Bamyan, the wounded were from Norway, Australia, Lithuania and Spain.

Qani said that the fatalities included two Afghan civilians and one Taliban member.

Updates Regarding the Attack on Foreign Tourists in the Center of Bamiyan

Al-Mirsad ( Taliban’s State-run News agency ) has received information from a reliable security source indicating that an assailant targeting foreign tourists, who sustained a hand injury, has been apprehended in the center of Bamiyan.

The individual identified as Sarwar, the son of Qanbar Ali, a resident of the Guwareh area in the center of Bamiyan and belonging to the Hazara tribe, has been apprehended as a significant suspect in the attack on foreign tourists in the center of Bamiyan.

Following the attack, he attempted to elude security forces by concealing himself, but was eventually captured. It has been reported that he sustained injuries during an armed confrontation with security forces, and a Kalashnikov rifle along with two magazines were seized from his hiding place.

Security sources further reveal that he had been under suspicion and surveillance for an extended period due to his association with an intelligence agency of a foreign country. Approximately three months ago, he was also detained by security forces for a duration of three days.

According to the aforementioned security source, there is a strong indication that the aforementioned attack was orchestrated and executed by a foreign intelligence organization known for perpetrating such acts of terrorism in the past.

It is plausible that this intelligence agency may have ulterior motives behind this particular assault.