Nearly two dozen dead in blasts at Afghanistan cattle market

Multiple explosions tore through a busy market in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 23 civilians.

Fatalities from the car bombing and mortar shells fired at a busy market in Helmand province on Monday included children, a statement from a provincial governor’s office said.

Both the Taliban and the Afghan military blame each other for the attack in Sangin district. Details of the reported attack could not be independently confirmed as the area, which is under Taliban control, is remote and inaccessible to reporters.

The statement from the office of the governor, General Mohammad Yasin, did not provide further details and there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

No military activity in the area

The army said there was no military activity in the area on Monday. The military said two Taliban fighters were also killed when the car bomb detonated at the marketplace, adding mortar shells fired by the insurgents targeted the civilians. 

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, denied the insurgents were involved in the bombing. The Taliban claimed the military fired mortars into the market.

Some residents of Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold, said the shelling occurred during fierce clashes between Taliban militants and government security forces in residential areas surrounding the market.

A statement from the presidential palace said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the “brutal and inhumane act," and stressed that targeting civilians, especially children and adults, is against all values.

“The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan once again calls on the Taliban to refrain from war and violence and to accept the will of the Afghan people, which is the end of the war and the start of negotiations," Ghani's statement said.

Livestock killed 

Livestock that the locals were selling on the market, sheep and goats, were also killed.

Khushakyar, who goes by a single name, said he was trying to sell a calf when the rockets hit the market. He said his two nephews were killed and his son was wounded.

"I saw around 20 bodies on the ground," he said, adding that dozens were wounded and "livestock lay dead next to men."

Stalemate

The United Nations in recent reports and statements has asked both sides in the conflict to be more careful of civilian casualties, saying they are on the increase.

Still, violence has continued unabated in Afghanistan, even though talks between the Taliban and Kabul representatives could start as early next month in July in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office.

One of the obstacles to the start of the negotiations has been the exchange of prisoners, envisaged under a deal the Taliban signed with the United States at the end of February. That accord — and the Afghan-Taliban talks that were meant to follow — are seen as Afghanistan’s best chance for peace and an opportunity for US and NATO troops to leave the war-torn country after nearly two decades of fighting.

The Taliban say the Afghan government has so far released 3,500 Taliban prisoners. The US-Taliban deal calls for 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be freed by Kabul. It also said the Taliban should free 1,000 government personnel, including military men, they hold captive.