Following the devastating roadside bomb explosion in central Ghazni province on Sunday night that killed primarily women and children, harsh condemnations flowed across the country, including ones from President Hamid Karzai and the Ulema Council.
The incident occurred in Andar District of Ghanzni when a bus carrying men, women and children heading to a wedding celebration struck a roadside bomb that left eighteen dead and six injured. When news broke about the explosion and its results, outcries from the Afghan public quickly spread across social media.
President Karzai called it "tragic" and an affront to basic human values on Monday.
Although no one claimed responsibility for the explosive device that was concealed on the Ghazni road, most suspect Taliban involvement based on the insurgent group's frequent use of the tactic against Afghan and coalition troop convoys.
The Ulema Council, composed of Afghanistan's highest ranking religious authorities, denounced the incident and said the killing of innocent civilians was a violation of Islamic law.
"These attacks are against Islamic teaching, Afghan values and the Sharia," said Maulavi Shahzada Shahid, a spokesman for the Ulema Council. "The explosion saddened the Council and we strongly denounce it...we demand that the warring factions avoid harming civilians in the their fighting."
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) also decried the Andar incident, claiming attacks on civilians were a new tactic of the insurgents.
"We are very concerned about civilian casualties," said AIHRC Commisioner Qadria Yazdan Parast. "The defense of human rights is our basic duty, we even respect the militants' human rights."
According to the most recent statistics from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 53 percent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan were caused by roadside bombs.
Andar District is located 27 kilometers away from Ghazni city, the capital of the province.