A southern Afghanistan livestock market was the site of carnage on Monday when it was struck by mortar rounds killing at least 20 civilians and injuring many others.
The attack occurred in the Sangin district of the Helmand province, which is a Taliban-controlled area. The market was filled with almost 500 people and scores of animals when the mortar rounds struck, leaving behind a bloody and chaotic scene. Both the Afghan government and the Taliban have denied responsibility and are blaming each other for the violence.
“Human and animal flesh was mixed,” Saifullah Khan, who was at the bazaar during the attack, told the New York Times. “Twenty-five people were killed on the spot, 10 others died of their wounds later.”
The attack comes a day after six civilians, including a woman and child, were killed by a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban in the Helmand province. The province has been an area of much violence, and the Taliban reportedly have control of at least five districts there.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the violence and called it a “terrorist attack,” while his spokesman said that the Taliban were responsible for causing the deaths. The Taliban, however, blamed the Afghan government for the explosions.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter that “all foreign & domestic news agencies” should visit the scene of the attack “to uncover the truth & make a document report about today’s tragedy so that our compatriots & the world get to know the perpetrators behind these inhumane crimes & prevent future incidents.”
We invite all foreign & domestic news agencies to visit Sangin #Helmand tomorrow to uncover the truth & make a document report about today’s tragedy so that our compatriots & the world get to know the perpetrators behind these inhumane crimes & prevent future incidents. https://t.co/x0sZv5qtgo
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) June 29, 2020
U.S. troops have begun to withdraw from the war-torn country after a peace deal was signed in February between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Some officials in the United States believe that the Taliban will wrest control of the country if the U.S. fully withdraws its forces. About one-third of U.S. troops have already left Afghanistan.
The Helmand attack comes the same day that neighboring Pakistan faced an attack on its stock exchange by ethnic Baluch separatists. The four gunmen, a police officer, and two security guards were killed after they attempted a siege on the exchange that lasted nearly an hour.
The State Department declined to comment about Monday’s mortar attack when contacted by the Washington Examiner.
