KABUL – A group of Afghan journalists were escorted by Taliban to the sceneof Monday’s Kunduz Madrassah airstrike, TOLO News has reported.

It was clear Daftani is in Taliban control – and the group’s flags fly overthe village center.

The villagers meanwhile said that contrary to government’s claims, noTaliban gathering was being held at the time of the airstrike.

Government claimed early this week that a large group of Taliban members,including leaders, had gathered at the madrassa to plan an attack on localsecurity forces.

However, residents and the Taliban both rejected this and said a graduationceremony was being held at the local madrassa – Darul Uloom HashemiyaOmaria – at the time.

Journalists reports that according to residents over 2,000 people had beenat the graduation ceremony at the time of the airstrike – this includedUlema members from various provinces, such as Baghlan, Samangan and Kabul.

Residents stated guests at the ceremony had been civilians but that theTaliban had been responsible for the security at the time of the gathering.

These locals said at least four missiles were dropped by two air forcehelicopters. One missile reportedly hit people sitting at the back of thegathering – including children.

Another missile meanwhile reportedly hit the wall of a school, a third hita civilian’s house and a fourth hit the roof of a house.

One house was about 100 meters from the gathering.

Residents told Amini almost 100 civilians were killed and over 150 otherswere wounded. However, it was difficult to verify the figures within thelimited period of time Amini was in the village.

Amini was also told that the two helicopters involved opened fire on thevillage after dropping their missiles. They reportedly carried on shootingfor about 10 minutes.

Residents said the people were wounded in both the airstrike and in thegunfire.

An eyewitness said: “The helicopters directly targeted the gathering. Theydid not even circle overhead.”

Another resident, who had been preparing food for guests at the ceremony,said: “My job was to take care of the food while it was cooking. (After theairstrike happened) lots of people were lying dead on the ground.”

Visiting the madrassa, Amini saw piles of blood-soaked turbans, prayer capsand shoes that residents said had belonged to the victims.

A fair-sized crater in the ground was also visible, as was large sheets ofblack plastic covering the ground adjacent to the madrassa.

According to residents, guests attending the ceremony had been sitting onthe sheets of plastic at the time of the airstrike – while an Ulema memberhad been delivering a speech.

One resident acknowledged the village was under Taliban control but saidthe victims had all been civilians.

“This is a Taliban area. We cannot reject this but our ceremony was onlyfor civilians,” the resident said.

While in the village center, Amini noticed at least half of the shops onWednesday were closed. Three Taliban flags were flying over the villagecenter.

Amini also found that there was little access to doctors or health carefacilities in the village and said that Daftani and its surrounds, of abouta 30km radius, was under Taliban control.

This unexpected visit comes after conflicting reports emerged this week inthe wake of Monday’s airstrike.

Government claimed on Monday and Tuesday the operation targeted a Talibangathering.

However, residents and the Taliban immediately rejected the claims and saidcivilians had been killed.

Sources claim Dasht-e-Archi is a key stronghold for the Taliban and thatmost of the district is under the group’s control.

Security sources also said Daftani village has been in Taliban control forthe past seven years.

On Tuesday, the ministry of defense released surveillance footage of thegathering ahead of the airstrike. During a press conference, the MoD’sdeputy spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said the helicopters involved had notshot at people in the area but had instead been fired on by the Taliban.

However, as more reports emerged of civilian casualties, President AshrafGhani ordered an inquiry into the incident this week. He appointed seniorofficials to lead a task team and to report back to him.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also announcedit had a team on the ground to assess the incident.

According to government 50 Taliban insurgents had been killed and 150wounded.