Celebratory cunfire; stray bullets kill child

HERAT CITY (Khaama Press): The stray, falling bullets from celebratory gunfire in Herat province in western Afghanistan have killed a child and injured one other person in the provincial capital, Herat city, said local Taliban officials.
According to Herat province’s police chief, the event took place on Sunday at a wedding ceremony in the province’s Turghundi region.
The Chief of Police’s office in Herat issued a newsletter in which it was said that the shooter, who fired aerial shots during a wedding reception, was arrested with the pistol.
Earlier, at least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul when the Taliban authorities announced that the group’s fighters had taken control of Panjshir, Afghanistan’s last province resisting the Islamist group, last year.
The aerial shooting by the Taliban forces not only resulted in 17 fatalities but also led to 41 people injured by the falling bullets.
While this was for Kabul, the Afghan capital, the celebratory gunfire in Nangarhar for the same occasion resulted in the injuries of 14 people.
The act of firing a firearm into the air in celebration is known as celebratory gunfire. Even though outlawed, it is culturally tolerated in parts of South Asia, especially Afghanistan.