Tribal elders in the southern Herat province called on the government to launch an immediate investigation about the attack that took the lives of innocent civilians on Wednesday.
Reports say that over 30 civilians were killed in the attack, but the exact number of casualty details confirmed by the Defense Ministry is yet to be received. The operation was carried out in collaboration with the Afghan security forces, according to a statement released by the spokesperson of the US forces in Afghanistan.
General Khoshal Saadat, the deputy minister of interior for security said, “an investigation team is conducting comprehensive research on the incident, and it is too early to conclude what truly happened.”
The connection of Mullah Rasul with the Afghan government and his stance against the Taliban network makes the situation rather complicated. Some even raise concern that, indeed, Mullah Nangialai, a loyal commander to Mullah Rasul, was targeted, which caused the death of scores of innocent civilians.
Tur Mohammad Zarifi, a tribal elder in Herat’s Shindand district, said “Mullah Nangialai leads a Taliban splinter faction that fights on the government side, and our concern from the Afghan government is that why those people who abandon war are being killed systematically,”
Abdul Qayoum Rahimi, the governor of Herat, said, “the airstrike case is extra complicated, and the responsible institutions in the central government have to respond to the questions raised by the public.
According to the latest reports, 38 members of commander Nangyalai’s group, who fought alongside the Afghan government against the Taliban, were martyred in this assault.
