Mortar attack kills Afghan man, 4 kids

KABUL: Five family members have been killed after a mortar, allegedly fired by Taliban militants, hit a civilian house in central Logar province of Afghanistan, an official said on Saturday.

The incident took place in the Alozay area of provincial capital Pul-e-Alam city on Thursday evening, Mir Haidar Selab, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said.

“The victims are the father and his four children: two sons and two daughters aged between 5 and 13,” Selab said.

Afghan security forces went to the area to install a security checkpost and were attacked by Taliban militants, Saleb said, adding that a mortar fired by Taliban targeting the security post hit a civilian house which resulted in the casualties.

According to Selab, mortars fired by the Taliban also caused serious damages to a mosque and a number of houses in the area.

Civilians increasingly are taking the brunt of the fighting between armed insurgents and Afghan security forces throughout the war-torn country. More than one-third of all civilian casualties in the first half of the year were attributed to ground engagements between militants and Afghan security forces, according to a mid-year report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in July. On May 14, five children were killed and two others were wounded when a mortar shell allegedly fired by the Taliban landed in a play ground in Afghanistan’s eastern Laghman province.