Civilians killed at wedding

The week's news at a glance.

Oruzgan, Afghanistan

Afghan villagers said at least 40 people, mostly women, died after a bomb hit a wedding celebration in southern Afghanistan this week. The Pentagon said that while one of its B-52s did send a 2,000-pound bomb astray in that area, officials were not sure whether the civilians were killed by the bomb or by enemy anti-aircraft guns. Initial reports suggested that U.S. forces might have mistaken celebratory gunfire at the wedding for hostile fire. But soldiers said they were being targeted directly. “I don’t know what was going on in this village,” U.S. military spokesman Col. Roger King said, “except there were people shooting at coalition forces with heavy-caliber machine guns.” The U.S. military and the Afghan government are investigating.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us