(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) PESHAWAR: At least 40 civilians participating in a wedding function lost their lives when Afghan security forces struck against hideout of Taliban militants in a building adjacent to the ceremony, Afghan officials said on Monday.
Helmand government spokesman Omar Zwak said the government has sent a delegation to investigate the incident. The Ministry of Defence said it would share the findings of the investigation with the media. It said all civilians killed and injured during the raid were from the wedding party.
The attack in Musa Qala district of Helmand province of Afghanistan happened on Sunday night.
"We are saddened and devastated to hear that civilians have lost their lives in an incident in Helmand despite President (Ashraf) Ghani's repeated call for extra cautions in conducting military operations," President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter.
The Afghan Defence Ministry claimed that 22 foreign members of the Taliban were killed and 14 arrested in the operation. The statement claimed that a huge cache of arms were also seized during the raid.
Violence is on the rise in the war-torn country as it heads for presidential election September 28. The Taliban have already warned that they will target election campaigns as well as polling stations and warned Afghans not to vote and stay away from election-related gatherings.
Last Tuesday, a suicide bomber targeted an election campaign rally where President Ghani was set to speak in Parwan province, killing 26 people and wounding 42. The same day, a suicide attack near the US Embassy in Kabul killed 22 people.
A suicide attack in Jalalabad city in eastern Afghanistan killed four people the next day. On Thursday, 37 people were killed in a bombing in Qalat city of Zabul province.
On the other hand, a drone strike carried out by US forces in Nangarhar on Wednesday killed 16 civilians. The US said it was aiming to target the Islamic State militants in the area, but the target was missed.
Both the Taliban and US forces have intensified attacks after cancelation of peace talks by the US President Donald Trump over an attack in Kabul in which a US soldier and many Afghan soldiers lost their lives.
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