At least 22 people were killed and 10 injured at a large wedding party in northern Afghanistan when a group of armed men opened fire on the gathering, authorities said Monday.
The attack, which happened in the Andarab district of Baghlan province on Sunday night, is attributed to a feud between two rival families. One family was hosting the event when members of the other family arrived and started firing at male guests, according to Al Jazeera.
Samay Faisal, a senator from the province, went into greater detail noting that the gunmen were dispatched to the party by a local commander when he noticed that one of his family's rivals was present at the party.
"They opened fire at the crowd, which resulted in the killing of 22 people and the wounding of 10 others," Faisal said, according to the New York Times. Other men at the gathering were armed and returned fire, killing at least two of the attackers, he said.
The majority of those killed were wedding guests aged from 14 to 60, Jaweed Basharat, the governor of Baghlan province, told the AP news agency. He said 10 people were also injured. It's been reported that the bride and groom survived the attack, but it's unknown if that means they were injured during the attack or not.
Fatal gunfights and celebratory gunfire are common at wedding ceremonies, according to eNCA. However, the causalities in this particular instance were noted as being unusually high.
