At least 42 dead in day of bombings, shootings

Scores of Afghans were killed Wednesday in Taliban attacks and other violence including a NATO airstrike. The deadliest assault took place in the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, where three suicide bombers turned a dusty marketplace into a gruesome scene; 22 people were killed and 50 injured. In eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials and residents said a pre- dawn NATO airstrike targeting insurgents killed at least 18 civilians celebrating a wedding, including women and children. But a regional police official said the airstrike had hit a meeting of Taliban commanders. In northern Afghanistan, meanwhile, police said Taliban gunmen opened fire on a wedding party in Balkh district of Balkh province, killing two civilians and wounding two others.