Gunmen who claimed to be Taliban fighters shot and killed three guests at a wedding for playing music, the Taliban government said on Saturday (30), which condemned the incident.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan executive, said two of the three attackers had been arrested and were not acting on behalf of the Islamic extremist groups, which returned to power in mid-August.
“Yesterday [sexta,29] at night, at Haji Malang Jan’s wedding in the town of Shamspur Mar Ghundi, three people who introduced themselves as Taliban entered the ceremony and asked to stop the music,” the spokesman said. “After a series of shots, at least three people died and several were injured.”
“Two suspects have been arrested by the Taliban and are still looking for the third, who managed to escape,” said Mujahid, who argued that the attackers “used the name of the Islamic emirate to settle personal scores and must now face the burden of sharia law.”
Qazi Mullah Adel, a spokesman for Nangarhar province, where the city of Shamspur Mar Ghundi is located, confirmed the incident without giving further details. “Young people were playing music in a separate room, three Taliban came and shot them. The two wounded are in serious condition,” a witness reported.
All secular music was banned by the Taliban during its previous regime between 1996 and 2001. Although the new Islamic government has yet to legislate on the issue, the group still considers listening to non-religious music to be contrary to its view of Islamic law. Earlier, at a news conference, the government spokesman said the Taliban were opposed to such acts. “If someone decides to kill a person, even if he is one of our men, he is committing a crime and we are going to take him to court,” he declared.
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