Kandahar

2010-06-09

39-40

39-40

As many as 40 people were killed, and 77 injured, at a wedding party in what President Hamid Karzai has referred to as "a crime of massive inhuman proportions against civilians." Many of the guests were said to have had links with police officials and the local militia. There is little consensus regarding who is responsible for the attack, with the US military and Afghan forces saying it was a Taliban suicide attack, and the Taliban and villagers maintaining it was a NATO airstrike. Colonel Wayne Shanks, spokesman for the US military, denies any US involvement in the attack, claiming such reports are a result of "Taliban misinformation," but local villagers believe a US airstrike was responsible because the damage was more extensive than is common for suicide bombs, and because armed helicopters were seen flying around the village before the explosion. The Afghan government, instead, believes the Taliban was responsible, pointing out that at least three members of the wedding group were Afghan policemen, a common target of the Taliban. Regardless of which group was responsible for the attack, it is likely that NATO forces will find increased difficulty and uneasiness among the Afghan people while carrying out their Kandahar operation, meant to purge the city of any Taliban influence.

eye witness accounts, drone / unmanned, leadership / assassination, US / NATO investigation, US / NATO statement, NATO led, cluster bomb(s), US / NATO civilian acknowledgment, local protest, in-flight decision, GPS / JDAM