6 civilians killed, 12 injured as fighting intensifies in Afghanistan

At least six civilians were confirmed dead and 12 others injured in Afghanistan on Thursday as fighting escalated in the militancy-battered country, officials said.

In the latest attack, the Taliban militants fired a mortar shell that struck a house in Khan Abad district of the northern Kunduz province at noon Thursday, killing three civilians on the spot and wounding six others, senior district official Qudratullah Safi told Xinhua.

The official blamed the Taliban for the deadly attack, saying the militants intentionally targeted civilians to terrorise the locals.

Similarly, another blast that hit a car in Kunduz city, the capital of the restive Kunduz province, at lunchtime wounded three civilians, including a prosecutor, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi confirmed.

Three more civilians were killed and three others injured in the Taliban fighters' ambush in Darayim district of the northern Badakhshan province Thursday morning. All the victims are members of same family, provincial police spokesman Sanaullah Rohani said.

The Taliban outfit has yet to claim responsibility for the attacks.

Civilians in Afghanistan often bear the brunt of war in the country.

According to Sayed Mohammad Sami, the head of Afghan human rights commission in the northern Balkh province, 31 civilians have been killed and 102 others, including 12 women and 25 children, injured due to fighting between the government forces and Taliban in the northern region of the country over the past two months.

A report of the watchdog released in July asserted that on average 16 civilians had been killed or wounded every day in the war-battered Afghanistan.

The report which documented civilian casualties in the first half of the year stated that 1,213 civilians had been killed and 1,744 others wounded from January to June 2020.

Fighting in Afghanistan has escalated since the start of intra-Afghan talks in Doha on Sept. 12. Hundreds of fighters from both sides as well as civilians have been killed since the start of the talks in the Qatari capital, according to Afghans.

The Afghan government negotiating team and Taliban delegation begun peace talks in Doha 12 days ago to find a political solution to the country's crisis, but no tangible progress has been reported so far.