The UN mission in Afghanistan said its findings indicate the Afghan military had mistakenly fired the mortars this week at a busy market in southern Helmand province that inflicted heavy civilian casualties.
According to a statement from the office of the Helmand provincial governor, Gen. Mohammad Yasin, a car bombing and mortar shells struck the market in Sangin district on Monday, killing 23 people, including children. Both the Taliban and the Afghan military blamed each other for the attack.
A series of tweets late Tuesday from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, said that "multiple credible sources" have asserted that the Afghan army fired the "mortars in response to Taliban fire, missing (the) intended target."