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> 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> Monir Ahmad Farhad, a provincial spokesman, said Friday four people were killed and more 100 people were injured when the attack happened at 10:45 p.m. in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital. No German diplomats were hurt.

Local police chief Abdul Razaq Qaderi described the explosion as "very powerful" and said three police officers were injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to the media.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the target was the consulate and he referred to Germany as "the invader."

Mazar-e-Sharif is one of the most peaceful cities in Afghanistan. It is also one of northern Afghanistan's most populated and developed cities. While the Taliban are active around Mazar-e-Sharif, the city is not a Taliban stronghold. The attack comes seven days after a a joint Afghan-US battle against the Taliban in the northern district of Kunduz that killed 30 civilians as well as two US soldiers and 26 militants. "I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives, regardless of the circumstances," Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement Saturday. The troops came under fire during what the US military said was a mission to train, advise and assist its Afghan partners in clearing a Taliban position and disrupting the organization's operations in Kunduz district. Those deaths happened the same day Taliban mortars killed at least seven people at a wedding party in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, police spokesman Kareem Youresh said. At least 13 people were wounded. Did U.S. know airstrike target was a hospital? Did U.S. know airstrike target was a hospital? Kunduz has been the site of a number of anti-Taliban operations. In April, the Pentagon announced that 16 military personnel would be disciplined over a fatal US strike on a Kunduz hospital in October 2015. But the military said the strike was not a war crime because it resulted from unintentional human error and equipment failure. </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> According to media reports, more than 40 civilians were killed and wounded after a market was shelled with mortar fire in Afghanistan's Northern Faryab province.

Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban movement and the Daesh* terrorist group.

Afghan government forces and the Taliban movement have long been engaged in an armed confrontation. The Taliban, who have previously seized vast territories in Afghan rural areas, are carrying out attacks across the country, and the Afghan security forces conduct regular counterterrorist operations against the insurgents.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia </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> 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> The Latest on developments in Afghanistan after a surge in Taliban attacks (all times local):

The spokesman for the Defense Ministry in Kabul says the Taliban have overrun a military base in northern Afghanistan, killing 17 soldiers and wounding at least 19 troops.

Ghafor Ahmad Jawed says the insurgents overrun the base late on Monday night in Faryab province, in the district of Ghormach, after besieging it for three days.

The local provincial council chief, Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, says 43 troops were killed and wounded in the attack but didn't give a breakdown.

He says the Taliban attack succeeded in taking control of the base, known as Camp Chinaya, which housed about 140 Afghan troops.

Rahmani says the base fell to the Taliban after the soldiers resisted the three-day onslaught. He says they didn't get any reinforcements and ran out of ammunition, food and water.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in Faryab. He says 57 Afghan soldiers surrendered to the Taliban while 17 others were captured in battle. He says eight military Humvees were seized.

Afghan officials say security forces have pushed back the Taliban from Ghazni and are now trying to flush the insurgents from the city's outskirts.

The operations come on the fifth day after a massive Taliban attack on the provincial capital of Ghazni.

Hundreds of people have fled the fighting in Ghazni, which has killed about 100 members of the Afghan security forces and at least 20 civilians.

Nasart Rahimi, a deputy spokesman at the Interior Ministry, says security forces were searching every inch of Ghazni for Taliban fighters on Tuesday.

Abdul Karim Arghandiwal, an army media officer in southeastern Afghanistan, says military helicopters are supporting the ground forces' operations in Ghazni.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denies the insurgents have been routed from Ghazni and says sporadic gunbattles are still ongoing. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on developments in Afghanistan after a surge in Taliban attacks (all times local):

The spokesman for the Defense Ministry in Kabul says the Taliban have overrun a military base in northern Afghanistan, killing 17 soldiers and wounding at least 19 troops.

Ghafor Ahmad Jawed says the insurgents overrun the base late on Monday night in Faryab province, in the district of Ghormach, after besieging it for three days.

The local provincial council chief, Mohammad Tahir Rahmani, says 43 troops were killed and wounded in the attack but didn't give a breakdown.

He says the Taliban attack succeeded in taking control of the base, known as Camp Chinaya, which housed about 140 Afghan troops.

Rahmani says the base fell to the Taliban after the soldiers resisted the three-day onslaught. He says they didn't get any reinforcements and ran out of ammunition, food and water.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in Faryab. He says 57 Afghan soldiers surrendered to the Taliban while 17 others were captured in battle. He says eight military Humvees were seized.

Afghan officials say security forces have pushed back the Taliban from Ghazni and are now trying to flush the insurgents from the city's outskirts.

The operations come on the fifth day after a massive Taliban attack on the provincial capital of Ghazni.

Hundreds of people have fled the fighting in Ghazni, which has killed about 100 members of the Afghan security forces and at least 20 civilians.

Nasart Rahimi, a deputy spokesman at the Interior Ministry, says security forces were searching every inch of Ghazni for Taliban fighters on Tuesday.

Abdul Karim Arghandiwal, an army media officer in southeastern Afghanistan, says military helicopters are supporting the ground forces' operations in Ghazni.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denies the insurgents have been routed from Ghazni and says sporadic gunbattles are still ongoing.

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Fourteen civilians are killed and 45 injured in mortar attacks in Faryab Province. Taliban insurgents claim responsibility for the attack.