An Australian man injured in a deadly attack on foreign tourists in Afghanistan has been identified.
Joe McDowell, who is believed to be from Perth, was injured when several gunmen opened fire outside a restaurant in the country’s central Bamyan province on Friday night.
The attack, which is believed to have been carried out by Islamic State militants, claimed the lives of three Spanish tourists and an Afghan.
Jibra’il Omar, an Australian academic previously known as Timothy Weeks, posted a photo of Mr McDowell smiling from his hospital bed on social media platform X.
‘Today, I visited my brother, Joe McDowell, who is currently in Kabul,’ he wrote.
Joe McDowell (pictured right), who is believed to be from Perth, was injured when several gunmen opened fire outside a restaurant in the country’s central Bamyan province on Friday night
![Four people have been arrested following the shooting in Bamyan City, central Afghanistan (pictured: an Afghan security force member checks a vehicle following the shooting)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/06/85037763-13434635-Four_people_have_been_arrested_following_the_shooting_in_Bamyan_-a-8_1716096334683.jpg)
Four people have been arrested following the shooting in Bamyan City, central Afghanistan (pictured: an Afghan security force member checks a vehicle following the shooting)
‘He expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for their support.
‘My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the tourists who lost their lives in the tragic attack in Bamyan.’
Afghanistan’s Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed that three foreigners and one Afghan had been killed.
‘The security forces started trying to find the killers, and so far, four people have been arrested in this case,’ Mr Qani added.
Another four foreigners and three Afghans were wounded, he added.
The injured are believed to be from Australia, Lithuania, Norway and Spain.
Bamyan is a UNESCO heritage listed area known for two giant Buddhist statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
Tourism to the region has increased since the Taliban swept to power in 2022.
Last year, the Kabul Times reported last May that a smany as 265 foreign tourists from country’s such as Italy, the US, China, Spain, England and Russia had visited the site in a two-month period.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X: ‘Overwhelmed by the news of the murder of Spanish tourists in Afghanistan.’
![Afghanistan’s Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani (pictured) confirmed that three foreigners and one Afghan had been killed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/06/85036435-13434635-Afghanistan_s_Interior_ministry_spokesman_Abdul_Mateen_Qani_pict-a-9_1716096334684.jpg)
Afghanistan’s Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani (pictured) confirmed that three foreigners and one Afghan had been killed
![Bamyan City (pictured) is a UNESCO heritage listed area known for two giant Buddhist statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/19/06/85037761-13434635-Bamyan_City_pictured_is_a_UNESCO_heritage_listed_area_known_for_-a-6_1716096334677.jpg)
Bamyan City (pictured) is a UNESCO heritage listed area known for two giant Buddhist statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001
Graphic footage from the aftermath of the attack shows men loading bloodied corpses into an ambulance.
The European Union’s Diplomatic Service released a statement condemning the attack in the ‘strongest terms’.
‘We condemn in the strongest terms the armed attack against a group of foreign tourists visiting Bamyan, Afghanistan,’ the statement reads.
‘Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims who lost their lives and those injured in the attack.’
The Taliban, an authoritarian Islamist regime, gained control of Afghanistan after the US withdrew from the country in 2021 following 20 years of counter-insurgency warfare.
Australia does not have formal diplomatic ties with the new government.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman previously confirmed with NewsWire the department was providing ‘consular assistance to an Australian man in Afghanistan’.
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