Kabul: An Afghan official says mortars fired by Taliban insurgents slammed into a busy market in Afghanistan's northern Faryab province killing at least 14 people and injuring 30 others, including several children.

Abdul Karim Yuresh, Faryab provincial police chief spokesman, said the likely target of Friday's attack in Khwaja Sabz Posh District was a nearby security post.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said the mortars were fired by the government during a firefight.

Meanwhile, 18 Afghan security personnel were killed in separate Taliban attacks on Friday, one each in western Farah and Herat provinces.

The insurgents have been staging near daily attacks against Afghanistan's security personnel inflicting staggering casualties even as they talk peace with the United States. </s> Faryab [Afghanistan], July 05 (ANI): At least four civilians were killed and 36 others suffered injuries in a Taliban attack">attack in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan.

The Kamma Press, citing the 209 Shaheen Corps, reported that Taliban fired multiple rounds of mortars and rockets in a market area.

The Corps said that the shelling started at 6:39 am [local time].

Taliban has conducted various attack">attacks in a past few days. On June 2, 68 people suffered injuries in a coordinated attack">attack by the terror group which rocked the city of Kabul. (ANI) </s> At least 14 civilians were killed after the Taliban attacked the center of Khwaja Sabz Posh district in the northern province of Faryab early on Friday morning, the provincial police spokesman Abdul Karim Yurish said.

Yurish added that the civilians were killed when the Taliban’s rockets landed near their houses.

He said that 39 others were wounded in the attack.

Yurish said that children are also among the victims.

He said that the wounded were taken to nearby hospitals in the province.

Taliban rejected the claims and the rockets were not fired by members of the group. </s> A mortar shell hit a market in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province, killing at least six people and injuring more than 30 others, on Friday, a source said.

The mortar shell hit the bazaar where people from several areas gather and sell their products, Sputnik reported.

“At least six people were killed and more than 30 injured when a mortar shell hit a bazaar in Khwaja Sabz Posh district in Faryab province Friday morning,” a local security official, who asked not to be named, told Sputnik.

The Taliban has dismissed responsibility for the incident after some media outlets accused it for the attack.

At the same time, a local health department said that, so far, four dead bodies had been taken to a hospital.

“Four dead bodies and 28 wounded people have been taken to the central hospital in Maimana city,” the head of the provincial health department, Naim Musamem, told Sputnik.

The provincial police command, on its part, has said it is looking into the issue.

Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban movement and the Daesh* terrorist group. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — At least 10 police officers and the wife of a police commander were killed in an ambush by Islamic States group militants in northern Zawzjan province, a provincial official said.



Mohammad Reza Ghafori, spokesman for the Zawzjan provincial governor, said Saturday that the police officers were ambushed Friday as they were coming out of a mosque. The wife of the police commander heard about her husband being shot and rushed to the scene, where she was also killed.



IS-linked militants have been active in Afghanistan's eastern regions, but have recently begun operating in the north of the country as well.



Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that around 38 militants, including 23 IS fighters, were killed in separate operations conducted by Afghan security forces in the eastern and southern regions of the country over the past two days.



Eight other militants were wounded and six arrested in the operations, which were conducted in districts across the Nangarhar and Helmand provinces, the statement added.



In another report form eastern Laghman province, two students were killed when a mortar struck a school's classroom, a news release from the Education ministry said. The statement added that five other students were wounded inside the classroom in Mihterlam, the province's capital.



There were unconfirmed reports the mortar was fired by Afghan security forces and missed its target and hit the school. The report could not immediately be verified by provincial or government officials.



In a separate report form northern Faryab province at least one police officer was killed when a remotely controlled bomb went off inside a bazaar, said Karim Yuresh, the spokesman for the provincial police chief.



He said that 16 others including 15 innocent civilians and a policeman were wounded in the blast. "The blast took place inside a market where innocent civilians were busy with their daily businesses," said Yuresh. He added that the intended target were the two policemen in the market.



No group has claimed responsibility for the Faryab attackn, but Taliban insurgents usually use roadside bombs and suicide attacks to target Afghan security forces as well as government officials across the country. </s> Alwaght- At least 14 Afghan civilians have been killed and dozens injured on Friday morning when a Taliban mortar attack hit a busy market in Faryab Province.

Hanif Rezaee, an Afghan army spokesman, said that Taliban shells struck the market, situated in the Khwaja Sabz Posh district of the northern Province.

The Taliban, he added, had been trying to hit an army checkpoint near the market.

"Fourteen civilians were killed and 40 -- including women and children -- were wounded," Rezaee said.

Meanwhile, Naem Musamim, Faryab's public health director, said that the injured had been taken to local hospitals.

Abdul Karim Yuresh, Faryab provincial police chief spokesman, stressed that the likely target of Friday’s attack was a nearby security post.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, however, claimed that the mortars were fired by the government during a gunfight.

The attack as the Taliban and the US have held talks — excluding the Kabul government — in the Qatari capital Doha to resolve the crisis in the war-torn country.

The two sides held their seventh round of talks last week. The US-Taliban peace talks are led by US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held six rounds of the discussions in Doha since October 2018.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan under the guise of the war on terror. Some 18 years on, Washington is seeking truce with the militants as the Taliban has only boosted its campaign of violence across the country.

In April, the Taliban announced the beginning of its spring offensive in Afghanistan despite involvement in the peace talks with the US. </s> A mortar shell hit a market in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province, killing at least six people and injuring more than 30 others, on Friday, a source told Sputnik.

The mortar shell hit the bazaar where people from several areas gather and sell their products.

“At least six people were killed and more than 30 injured when a mortar shell hit a bazaar in Khwaja Sabz Posh district in Faryab province Friday morning,” a local security official, who asked not to be named since he was not authorized to talk to the press, said. </s> At least eight children have been killed and six wounded in a bomb blast in Afghanistan's northern Faryab province.

Police in the Shirin Tagab district blamed the Taliban for planting a mine in the area, which fell into the group's control last week.

The children were playing near a police station when the explosion happened, witnesses said.

They are said to be aged between six and 12 years old.

Afghan outlet Tolo News reports that two of the wounded have lost limbs. They were taken to hospital in a critical condition.

There has been no comment from the Taliban. </s> Security forces, Taliban blame each other for incident in Faryab province injuring over 30
Fourteen civilians are killed and 45 injured in mortar attacks in Faryab Province. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility for the attack.