Airstrike hits wedding procession, 4 killed, 8 injured

KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): Three women militants in Maroof district of southern Kandahar province, sources said on Friday.

The airstrike took place in Abu Qala village of the district on Thursday evening after Taliban militants in vehicles joined the wedding procession of cars carrying guests, said Ahmad Shah, a resident of the district.

Ahmad Shah, who accompanied the injured persons to the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City, told Pajhwok that four people were killed and eight others were injured including women and children in the incident.

He said the airstrike targeted the procession after Taliban militants mixed up with the vehicles which were part of the wedding convoy.

Pajhwok tried to talk with the injured people but their relatives did not allow this.

Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq confirmed the airstrike and the casualties in Maroof district and said hundreds of Taliban militants stormed the district center and when they were shelled from the air, the rebels fled and hid in the wedding procession. The police chief said 10 Taliban fighters were killed in the airstrike.

Gen. Raziq said the Taliban often used to hide in people’s homes after staging attacks on government targets and that was why sometimes civilians were harmed.

He said the air forces tried their best to avoid hitting a civilian vehicle and they even did not fire at a Taliban vehicle fixed with a machinegun atop because it was surrounded by civilians.

Kandahar governor’s spokesman Aziz Ahmad Azizi said the Taliban attacked security posts in Khogyani and Ishaqzai villages yesterday, sparking a fierce gun-battle with security forces who then called in air support.

He said the airstrike hit two vehicles of the Taliban, killing 10 militants including three Pakistanis and injuring eight others. He said one policeman was killed and three others were wounded in the Taliban attack.

The injured civilians included seven women and one child.

The Taliban have so far said nothing in this regard.

Two days ago, the Taliban carried out a suicide bombing using a Humvee vehicle on the Maroof district police headquarters and then coordinately attacked the police building, with both the sides suffering casualties.

ma

Views: 0