KABUL // The mortars tore into civilians just days after a Nato ceremony to mark the end of the war in Afghanistan. Again and again they struck, the barrage lasting from afternoon until early evening.
The intended target remains a matter of some dispute but by the end of the attack, a wedding in the district of Sangin – in the southern province of Helmand – had been ripped to shreds. Although the exact death toll is unclear, dozens of people were killed or injured.
The tragedy on December 31 highlighted the growing violence in that part of the country and served to underline the suspicion that many Afghans feel towards their own security forces. It was the army, not insurgents, who fired the mortars that struck the Sangin wedding and anger towards them is still evident.
“On that day there was no war, no fighting, no shooting of bullets by the Taliban,” said Abdul Satar Storay, a professor at Helmand University who was involved in a public protest over the incident soon afterwards.
“They had their reasons. If anyone fired at them please show us those soldiers who were wounded or killed. There were none. This attack was done on purpose – it was an act of oppression.”
Ever since British troops were sent there in 2006, Helmand has been the scene of the some of the worst bloodshed in Afghanistan. With its abundance of poppy fields, Sangin in particular quickly gained an unforgiving reputation for bombings, ambushes and firefights.
This continued when US marines took responsibility for the district’s security in 2010. But the situation was meant to have changed decisively by the time the then US defence secretary, Robert Gates, visited in March 2011. He told his forces they had “killed, captured or driven out the Taliban that called this place home” and achieved a “strategic breakthrough”.
The war is now officially over for Nato, which has pulled out most of its forces from Afghanistan and switched to a training mission dubbed “Resolute Support”. But the conflict appears to be escalating for the people left behind.
Mr Storay said he had been privately told by a local official that even ISIL is slowly making inroads into Helmand, clashing with the Taliban in the district of Kajaki. The interior ministry has since said publicly that some members of the Taliban in Afghanistan have switched allegiance to ISIL. Whether true or not, the Afghan government already has its work cut out.
Detailed accounts of the wedding attack given to The National show just how difficult it will be for the army and police to gain the confidence of civilians while keeping insurgents at bay.
Sharifullah Dost is the relative of a 16-year girl who was wounded when the mortars struck. Although he was not there at the time, Mr Dost has been helping local civil society activists conduct an investigation into the incident. In a telephone interview, he described how events unfolded.
The village that was hit is called Bayenzai and is located in an area named Sarwan Qala, beside the Helmand River. Most of the people there are from the Alakozai tribe.
On the day of the wedding the bride, Bakhtawara, was taken to the groom’s house on the back of her brother’s motorcycle. Two or three other motorcycles were travelling with them. On arrival she was greeted by several women who placed a shawl over her in keeping with tradition.
It was then that the mortars started to land in and around the area of the house, coming in bursts that lasted for about two hours. Among the places struck were the bride and groom’s bedroom. Contrary to some initial reports, Bakhtawara, who was in her late twenties, survived by escaping to a neighbour’s house. She was wounded in her left shoulder. The groom, Juma Gul, was not in the house when it was hit.
Mr Dost said the Afghan army had asked villagers to tell them if there were ever going to be any weddings or funerals in the area. Villagers had subsequently notified the army two days in advance that this particular wedding was about to take place. Mr Dost is unsure which army outpost fired the mortars.
Insurgents often use motorcycles as their preferred means of transport and he thinks this may have aroused suspicion. However, he still believes civilians were deliberately targeted. He said all the casualties were women and children.
US troops withdrew from Sangin last Spring and the Taliban have subsequently stepped up their operations in the area, pushing close to the district centre and conducting large-scale assaults elsewhere in Helmand.
Weddings have been hit before in Afghanistan. In 2002 the United States bombed a wedding party in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing scores of people. In 2008 a similar incident occurred in Nangarhar, in the country’s east, when another US airstrike killed 47 civilians.
Bashir Ahmad Shaker, a member of Helmand Provincial Council responsible for security issues, said it was clear that the attack in Sangin was deliberate, with ten mortars fired from an outpost located in an area called Kozo. He put the number of dead at 35, with around 70 injured and said no men had been around at the time.
Mr Shaker also said the soldiers had been told about the wedding in advance, but claims they had been notified three days earlier. He said the troops stationed at the outpost had been based in the same area for more than three years, rather than being rotated to less hostile parts of the country, and that in the end, fatigue and low morale caused them to snap.
“If soldiers have stayed in a war zone for three or four years they will either commit this kind of crime or commit suicide,” Mr Shaker said.
The government has promised to get to the bottom of the tragedy in Sangin. Meanwhile, Mr Shaker warned that Helmand is in danger of collapsing to the Taliban, with districts in the north of the province under severe pressure.
“In previous years we haven’t seen the enemy active when the weather is cold, but this year they are active even now,” he said. “Our concern is that if they are able to fight us now, what will happen when we get to [Spring]?”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae