Taliban fighters shoot two dead over wedding music

Taliban fighters shot dead two wedding guests who were listening to music, local officials and a witness said Saturday, forcing Afghanistan's new government to insist such attacks are not authorised.     

A relative of the victims said Taliban fighters had opened fire while music was being played at a wedding in Sorkhrud, in Nangarhar province in the east of the country, killing two and wounding two more.

Music was banned the last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and, while the new government has not yet issued such a decree, its leadership still frowns on its use in entertainment and sees it as a breach of Islamic law.  

"The young men were playing music in a separate room and three Taliban fighters came and opened fire on them. The injuries of the two wounded are serious," he told reporters.

Qazi Mullah Adel, spokesman for the Taliban governor in Nangarhar, confirmed the incident but did not provide further details. A security source said the two men who attacked the wedding are now in custody.

In Kabul, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said he could not confirm the incident, but promised that it was not Taliban policy to execute music lovers.

"Investigations are continuing. So far, it's not clear how it happened," he said. "Is it a personal matter or what?

"In the ranks of the Islamic Emirate no one has the right to turn anyone away from music or anything, only to try to persuade them. That is the main way," he told a news conference.