[Iran Press TV Latest] Taliban militants fired two rockets on Monday, killing 12 Afghan civilians and wounding at least 38 others, the French military reported. The rockets were fired into a crowded market in the town of Tagab in Kapisa Province, northeast of Kabul, where the head of French forces in Afghanistan and tribal elders were holding a meeting, known locally as a shura.
About 40 Afghan officials, including the local police chief, the regional deputy governor, tribal chiefs, and religious elders were attending the shura to discuss Sunday's offensive.
French Lieutenant Colonel Lionel said the target had been the meeting where Brigadier General Marcel Druart was holding talks with tribal elders about a major French offensive in the Tagab Valley the previous day.
Druart, who was unhurt despite the fact the rocket fell about 200 meters (yards) away from the meeting place, told The Associated Press that the attack "shows clearly that the insurgents don't care about the lives of the civilian Afghan population."
He said French forces immediately retaliated with artillery shelling on the rockets' launching site.
France has over 3,000 troops stationed mainly north of Kabul in the Kapisa and Surobi areas.
About 700 French and 100 Afghan soldiers with more than 100 armored vehicles launched the operation in the hostile valley, 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Kabul. It has long been a safe haven for the Taliban and other militant groups.