Mortars fired by the Afghan army have killed at least 26 civilians and wounded over 40 at a wedding in Helmand, just hours before the formal handing over of responsibility for security from NATO forces to the Afghan security forces.
Provincial officials confirmed that the mortars were fired by Afghan soldiers. General Mahmoud, the deputy Commander of the Afghan 215 corps in Helmand province, told Reuters: "What we know so far is that our soldiers fired mortar rounds from three outposts but we do not know whether it was intentional.
"We have launched our investigation and will punish those who did this,” he added.
Mahmoud told Reuters the army is aware that artillery was fired at the village in the Sangin district, where the wedding was being held, from three directions.
Deputy police chief of the province, Gul Pasha Bakhtiar, told Reuters 26 civilians were killed, including women and children, and another 41 wounded.
The incident came just hours before a ceremony marking the day on which Afghanistan assumed full responsibility for security from foreign combat troops, formally ending a 13 year mission for NATO in the country.
"I want to congratulate my people today that Afghan forces are now able to take full security responsibility in protecting their country's soil and sovereignty," Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said in a speech made hours after the mortars hit the wedding in Helmand.
Although there has been a much publicized exit of foreign troops from Afghanistan, some 13,000 troops, the majority American, will remain in the country in a training and advisory role for up to two years. The new mission is named ‘Resolute Support’.
The Afghan army, numbering 350,000, will now take over the fight against Taliban insurgents in the country. In 2014, 3,188 Afghan civilians were killed in the conflict between the Taliban and the combined forces of Afghan security forces and foreign troops. It was the deadliest year on record for non-combatants, according to a United Nations report. More than 4,600 Afghan security forces were killed in the last year.
The Taliban has said the NATO withdrawal is a defeat for the foreign forces. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said the withdrawal of NATO troops is "…a clear indication of their defeat," and the foreign mission has "...rolled up its flag in an atmosphere of failure and disappointment without having achieved anything substantial or tangible," Al Jazeera reports.
