Kabul today announced it would launch an investigation into the deaths of more than 20 policemen killed in a battle with the Taliban, after relatives accused the government of failing to provide timely assistance.
Hundreds of Taliban fighters launched a raid on several check posts manned by local police in the Jalrez district of eastern Wardak province on Thursday night, triggering a battle that lasted around 24 hours.
Around 23 Afghan Local Police - a militia hired and controlled by the government - were killed, officials said, with some of the dead bodies decapitated.
President Ashraf Ghani termed the killings a "war crime" and called for an investigation, according to a statement by his office today.
Hundreds of fresh forces who arrived in Jalrez yesterday took back territory lost to the insurgents, but the families of the victims - all from the Hazara ethnic minority - said the government had failed to provide ammunition and reinforcements in time.
"It is all because of the government's negligence, there were a lot of police and army check posts around Jalrez but nobody cared... The government is responsible for their deaths," Mohammad Aref, the nephew of one of the fallen commanders told AFP.
He said his uncle, Mohammad, also known as Sia, was in touch with his family right before he died.
"In his last call he told us that he had only seven bullets left, he said goodbye and hung up. We never heard from him again."
In Kabul over the weekend, several hundred people protested against the government's handling of the incident, which prominent Hazara politician Mohammad Mohaqiq called a "catastrophe".
The Jalrez raid was the latest in a series of brazen Taliban attacks since the group began their annual spring offensive in April.
Fighting on multiple fronts and facing record casualties, Afghan forces totalling 350,000 are struggling to rein in militants following the end of NATO's combat mission last December.
