At least 9 dead in Taliban attack on Afghan village prompted by local rivalry

ISLAMABAD: At least nine people, including three children, have been killed after Taliban forces attacked a village in the provincial capital of Afghanistan’s Daikundi province about two days ago, a tribal elder told dpa on Sunday. Another two people were wounded and four detained by the Taliban forces, according to the source who did not wish to be named for security reasons. Earlier, UN children’s agency UNICEF said that the children killed in the attack were aged between 1 and 14 years old. A legal dispute between two rival groups in the ethnic Hazara province is said to be the root cause of the Taliban attack on Siwak Shibar village. The Taliban authorities on Saturday said that those killed were armed rebels and denied that children were among the dead. Taliban government deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi claimed that the men were killed after they refused to surrender their weapons. According to Karimi, a Taliban member was also killed and two others wounded during the incident.