• Five Chinese nationals among injured in restaurant blast.
• China demands Kabul to spare no effort to treat the injured.
• Kabul police say restaurant mostly served Chinese Muslims.

Beijing demanded on Tuesday that Afghanistan protect Chinese citizens after a bombing at a restaurant in Kabul killed at least seven people, including a Chinese man.

China, which shares a rugged 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has close ties with the Taliban government.

“China has made urgent representations with the Afghan side, demanding that the Afghan side spare no effort to treat the injured, further take effective measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.

Six Afghans were also killed in Monday’s explosion at the Chinese Noodle restaurant in central Kabul, city police spokesman Khalid Zadran said.

The blast was claimed by the regional branch of the Daesh group, the SITE Intelligence Group reported, saying it was a suicide attack targeting Chinese nationals.

The Kabul police spokesman said the restaurant in the Shahr-e-Naw area mostly served Chinese Muslims.

Five Chinese nationals were also among the wounded, Beijing said, warning its citizens against travelling to Afghanistan.

“Chinese citizens and enterprises already in Afghanistan should enhance their awareness of prevention, strengthen security measures and evacuate high-risk areas as soon as possible,” Guo said.

Taliban officials have vowed to restore security to the country and are courting foreign investors to secure crucial revenue streams as foreign aid funding dries up.

Chinese business visitors have flocked to Afghanistan since the Taliban government took power in 2021 for the second time.

• WFP estimates 17 million Afghans face acute hunger.
• Winter shuts work opportunities as need rises sharply.
• WFP says 3 million more face acute hunger.

KABUL: In the dull glow of a single bulb lighting their tent on the outskirts of Kabul, Samiullah and his wife Bibi Rehana sit down to dry bread and tea, their only meal of the day, accompanied by their five children and three-month-old grandchild.

“We have reached a point where we are content with death,” said 55-year-old Samiullah, whose family, including two older sons aged 18 and 20 and their wives, is among the millions deported by neighbouring Iran and Pakistan in the past year.

“Day by day, things are getting worse,” he added, after their return to a war-torn nation where the United Nations’ World Food Programme estimates 17 million battle acute hunger after massive cuts in international aid.

“Whatever happens to us has happened, but at least our children’s lives should be better.”

Samiullah said his family went virtually overnight from its modest home in Iran to their makeshift tent, partially propped up by rocks and rubble, after a raid by Iranian authorities led to their arrests and then deportation.

They salvaged a few belongings but were not able to carry out all their savings, which would have carried them through the winter, Samiullah added.

Reuters was unable to reach authorities in Iran for comment.

“Migrants who are newly returning to the country receive assistance as much as possible,” said Afghan administration spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, in areas from transport to housing, healthcare and food.

It was impossible to eradicate poverty quickly in a country that suffered 40 years of conflict and the loss of all its revenue and resources, he added in a statement, despite an extensive rebuilding effort.

“Economic programmes take time and do not have an immediate impact on people’s lives.”

The WFP says Pakistan and Iran have expelled more than 2.5 million Afghans in massive repatriation programmes.

Islamabad accelerated deportations amid accusations that the Taliban was harbouring militants responsible for cross-border attacks on Pakistani soil.

Tehran ramped up deportations last year amid a flurry of accusations that they were spying for Israel. Authorities blamed the expulsions on concerns about security and resources.

No income, no aid

As winter spreads across Afghanistan’s arid landscape, work opportunities have dried up, while the wave of returning Afghans has swelled the population by a tenth, said John Aylieff, the WFP’s country director.

Cuts to global programmes since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House have sapped the resources of organisations such as the WFP, while other donor countries have also scaled back, putting millions at risk worldwide.

“Last year was the biggest malnutrition surge ever recorded in Afghanistan and sadly the prediction is that it’s going to get worse,” added Aylieff, estimating that 200,000 more children would suffer acute malnourishment in 2026.

At the WFP’s aid distribution site in Bamiyan, about 180 km (111 miles) from Kabul, the capital, are stacks of rice bags and jugs of palm oil, while wheelbarrows trundle in more food, but it is still too little for the long queues of people.

“I am forced to manage the winter with these supplies; sometimes we eat, sometimes we don’t,” said Zahra Ahmadi, 50, a widowed mother of eight daughters, as she received aid for the first time.

‘Life never remains the same’

At the Qasaba Clinic in the capital, mothers soothed their children during the wait for medicine and supplements.

“Compared to the time when there were no migrants, the number of our patients has now doubled,” said Dr Rabia Rahimi Yadgari.

The clinic treats about 30 cases of malnutrition each day but the supplements are not sufficient to sustain the families, who previously relied on WFP aid and hospital support, she said.

Laila, 30, said her son, Abdul Rahman, showed signs of recovery after taking the supplements.

“But after some time, he loses the weight again,” she said.

After the Taliban takeover, she said, “My husband lost his (government) job, and gradually our economic situation collapsed. Life never remains the same.”

The United States led a hasty withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan in July 2021, after 20 years of war against the Taliban, opening the doors for the Afghan Taliban to take control of Kabul.

As dusk gathers and the temperature falls, Samiullah brings in firewood and Bibi Rehama lights a stove for warmth.

“At night, when it gets very cold, my children say, ‘Father, I’m cold, I’m freezing.’ I hold them in my arms and say, ‘It’s OK.’ What choice do we have?” Samiullah said.

“(When) I worked in Iran, at least I could provide a full meal. Here, there is neither work nor livelihood.”

SYDNEY: Beaches in the north of Sydney remained closed on Tuesday after a shark bit a man in his 20s, the city’s third shark attack in two days.

Emergency services were called to a beach in Manly in the north of the city on Monday evening following reports a surfer had been bitten by a shark, New South Wales police said in a statement.

He was treated for serious leg injuries and taken to hospital in a critical condition.

All beaches in the Northern Beaches, a council area straddling the city’s northern coastline, will remain closed until further notice, police said.

Earlier on Monday, a 10-year-old boy escaped unharmed after a shark knocked him into the water, biting a chunk out of his surfboard.

On Sunday, a boy was left in a critical condition after being bitten by a shark at a city beach.

The attacks follow days of heavy rain that ran off into the harbour and beaches around the city, creating ideal conditions for the bull sharks suspected to be behind some of the attacks. The species thrives in brackish water.

Australia sees around 20 shark attacks per year, with just under three of those being fatalities, according to data from conservation groups. Those numbers are dwarfed by drownings on the country’s beaches.