JALALABAD, Afghanistan, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen civilians were injured in a mortar shelling attack in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Thursday, a local official said.
"A mortar shell fired by militants struck a populated area in Ghani Khel district early Thursday morning, wounding 14 innocent civilians," provincial government spokesman Attahullah Khogyani told Xinhua.
Six of the injured, who suffered serious wounds, were shifted by security forces to a regional hospital in provincial capital Jalalabad to receive intensive medical treatment, the spokesman added.
He blamed Taliban militant group for the attack in the province, 120 km east of Kabul.
The attack came as the war-weary Afghans have been witnessing a surge in attacks by Taliban fighters and Islamic State (IS) affiliates across the country recently.
About 715 civilians were killed and over 1,460 others injured in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan in the first three months of the year, according to figures released by the United Nations mission in the country.
