Assault on religious ceremony in April was intended to break a stalemate with the TalibanRockets and heavy machine guns fired from Afghan government helicopters killed and wounded at least 107 boys and men attending a religious ceremony near the northern city of Kunduz last month, according to a UN report. Villagers in the Dasht-e Archi district of Kunduz province said that dozens of people, including many children, had been killed in the 2 April attack, prompting the UN to launch an investigation. Investigators verified 107 victims but had received lists from various sources indicating more than 200 casualties, the report said. It also targeted members of a Taliban “Red Unit”, or special forces group, that was planning an attack on Kunduz city, which has been overrun by insurgent forces twice since 2015. In October 2015, 42 people were killed in a US airstrike on a hospital in Kunduz city run by the medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières.

Source: The Guardian May 07, 2018 18:13 UTC