Suicide attack kills 40 at Afghan wedding party

(AP)

NADAHAN VILLAGE, Afghanistan — A suicide bomb ripped through a wedding party for a family with ties to police in the Taliban's heartland in Afghanistan, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens more, officials said Thursday.

The Taliban denied carrying out the attack, but strong suspicion fell on the insurgent group because of previous attacks and killings of people seen as allied with the government or Afghan security forces.

The blast hit in an area that is largely considered a Taliban haven, and village residents said they believed they were attacked in an air bombardment. Mohammad Rassool, a cousin of the groom, said helicopters were circling above the compound before the explosion.

NATO said no service members from the alliance were involved or operating in the area at the time of the explosion. U.S. military spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said the deaths were not the result of an airstrike.