Wedding guests killed in
Afghanistan blast
Last updated: 2 hours ago
Roadside bomb kills at least 19
people heading to a wedding
celebration in northern Balkh
province.
A roadside bomb has torn
through a minibus carrying
people to a wedding celebration
in northern Afghanistan, killing at
least 19 people and wounding
16, authorities said.
Bismullah Muslimyar, the district
police commander who gave the
death toll, said six children and
seven women were among those
killed in Balkh province on Friday
morning. He said a police patrol
had passed through Dawlat Abad
district attack site during the
night.
"All the victims were civilians and
mostly they were women and
children," Shir Jan Durrani,
provincial police spokesman, told
the AFP news agency.
The bus was taking guests to a
wedding celebration in the
Dawlat Abad district, about 40
kilometres from provincial capital
Mazar-e-Sharif, Durrani said
Muslimyar said the wedding had
occurred Thursday, and the party
was heading to the groom's
home to congratulate the
newlyweds according to
tradition.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan
president, strongly condemned
the attack.
“Planting a mine on a road used
by civilians and the killing of
innocent people represents
hostility toward humanity,'' he
said in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of
responsibility for the attack.
Earlier this month, the United
Nations Security Council
expressed serious concern at the
high number of civilian casualties
in the war, especially among
women and children.
Women and children accounted
for about 30 per cent of this
year's casualties, mostly victims
of roadside bombs.
The Taliban and other armed
groups are responsible for the
overwhelming majority of civilian
deaths in the country. About 77
per cent of the deaths between
January and June can be
attributed to fighters, a UN
report said.
Homemade bombs continue to
be the deadliest weapon for
civilians, accounting for 29 per
cent of all such deaths in the
period, it said.
Free and fair elections
Meanwhile, NATO's visiting top
official urged the Afghan
government to ensure that the
next presidential elections in
2014 are free and fair. Karzai will
not be able to run after having
served the maximum two terms
in office.
“It's essential for the trust
between the Afghan people and
government that these elections
take place in a free, transparent
and inclusive manner,'' Anders
Fogh Rasmussen, NATO
secretary-general said in Mazar-
eSharif where he and envoys
from NATO's governing body
were concluding a two-day visit
to Afghanistan.
There is mounting uncertainty
about the upcoming transfer of
power, which will come as
NATO's troops prepare to end
their combat role at the end of
2014.

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