Nadahan wedding bombing

On the evening of 9 June 2010, at approximately 21:00 local time (16:30 GMT), a suicide bombing struck a wedding party in the village of Nadahan, in Arghandab District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The attack killed at least 40 people and wounded at least 77 others. The Ottawa Citizen was quoted describing it as "the most lethal attack in the south in recent memory."

The explosion took place in a men-only area of the wedding where guests were eating dinner; female guests were located in a separate building at the time. According to witness accounts, a white-clothed boy under the age of 13 walked into the dining area and came within about 15 feet (4.6 m) of the dinner tables before manipulating a bomb attached to a vest he was wearing, producing what was described as a "ball of fire and smoke." Some of those killed were children. The groom was wounded in the attack, and his brother was among those killed. At least three Afghan police officers were reportedly present at the wedding. Some accounts suggested the attack may have been aimed at 17 guests who were members of an anti-Taliban guard group that had previously received encouragement from United States Special Operations Forces before that support was withdrawn. Blood donations were requested via television broadcasts, and coffins of the dead were lined up adjacent to the mortuary.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry dispatched a group of investigators to the village. NATO issued a statement denying that any of its soldiers were responsible, and NATO troops instead blamed the Taliban. The Taliban denied responsibility, calling the attack "a brutal act." Lt. Gen. Nick Parker, deputy commander of NATO forces, described the bombing as "ruthless violence" and characterized it as reflecting "sickening and indiscriminate tactics to try to intimidate the citizens of Afghanistan." A U.S. military spokesperson stated the attack was not an airstrike carried out by American forces, dismissing suggestions to the contrary as "Taliban misinformation."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and called for "a thorough investigation." Speaking in the presence of visiting UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Karzai called it "a crime of massive inhuman proportions." Kandahar Province Governor Tooryalai Wesa held a news conference in Nadahan following the attack, displaying a piece of metal he said resembled part of a suicide bomb. United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan Staffan de Mistura called it an "outrageous act," stating that targeting people celebrating a wedding "shows a total disregard for civilian life."

No individual or group was confirmed as having carried out the attack; responsibility remained disputed between NATO's attribution to the Taliban and the Taliban's own denial.