UN blames Afghan forces for market shelling

KABUL: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Tuesday blamed Afghan forcesforfiringmortarshellsthatstruckabusymarket in a southern province, killing at least 23 civilians.

“UNAMA’S initial impartial findings indicate Afghan National Army mortars inflicted heavy civilian casualties on Monday,” the mission said on Twiter.

“Multiple credible sources assert that the ANA fired lethal mortars in response to Taliban fire, missing intended target.”

The UN mission called on the Afghan government to set up an independent investigation and urged both the Taliban and government forces to stop fighting in civilian areas.

It said such “indirect-fire incidents” cause thousands of deaths every year.

Afghan officials had previously blamed the Taliban for the explosions in the Sangin district of Helmand province, with President Ashraf Ghani condemning the incident as a “terrorist atack.”

The Monday morning explosions came as the Talibanandtheafghangovernmentareexpectedto launch much delayed peace talks aimed at ending the country’s nearly two-decade-old war.

Thetaliban’schiefnegotiatormullahabdulghani Baradar reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the deal with Washington during a call with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday.

Pompeoacknowledgedthetalibanhadrefrained from atacking urban centres and military bases under the deal, but called on them to do more to reduce overall violence, according the group’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen.

“We are commited to starting intra-afghan