Grief, anger engulf survivors of militant carnage in Afghan valley

An Afghan police officer inspects vehicles at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, in this August 6, 2017 photo. (REUTERS)

KABUL: Afghan men are known for not weeping in public during crises, but the carnage inflicted by suspected Daesh sympathizers in a remote valley in northern Sari Pul was beyond their ability.
After four days of captivity, more than 230 villagers — taken hostage during an attack on Mirza Oleng village — were freed late Tuesday. Elderly men were among those freed, who were largely made up of women and children.
Their reunion with their next of kin on Wednesday was full of grief, yelling and crying. Shocked and exhausted, they were initially unable to speak before television crews interviewed them.
“I saw victims with their intestines out, skull blown… Ten or 15 bodies were thrown in one grave,” survivor Sayed Ismail, seemingly in his early 60s, said while tears fell from his eyes.
Another man said the insurgents had taken his 16-year-old son from home, and he has not heard about him since.
Holding her little child, Adela, a burqa-clad woman, said her husband was among the more than 50 people killed.
“My husband was buried alive, and he could not escape because he wanted to protect my children,” Tolo TV quoted her as saying.
Provincial officials said the victims were mostly Shiite, and the assailants, who began their attack by targeting security forces, abducted villagers from wherever they could.
Officials said some victims were beheaded, some had their bodies pierced and others were thrown off a cliff.
The Taliban confirmed attacking and killing government forces, but deny involvement in the civilian carnage.
The attack is part of a series of others against Shiites in the past year in Afghanistan. Daesh, which includes some disaffected Taliban members, has claimed responsibility for attacks against Shiite places of worship.
Embattled President Ashraf Ghani, whose government is deeply divided and facing growing public anger over rising insecurity, condemned the attack in Sari Pul.
Government officials said it was part of an effort to spark sectarian violence in Afghanistan, where tensions appear higher than at any time since the US-led invasion more than 16 years ago.