[4] Some suggested the attack was intended for 17 of the guests who were members of an anti-Taliban guard group, which had once been encouraged by United States Special Operations Forces before they gave up on it.

[3] Deputy commander of NATO forces, Lt. Gen. Nick Parker, described it as "ruthless violence" and claimed these were "sickening and indiscriminate tactics to try to intimidate the citizens of Afghanistan".

[4] Karzai, in the presence of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron (who was visiting Afghanistan for the first official time), labelled it "a crime of massive inhuman proportions".

[7] Tooryalai Wesa, governor of Kandahar Province, spoke at a news conference in Nadahan after the attack and demonstrated a piece of metal he had found which he said resembled part of a suicide bomb.

[4] United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan Staffan de Mistura said it was an "outrageous act" and that "to specifically target people who were gathering at a moment of happiness to celebrate a wedding shows a total disregard for civilian life".