This archive report was first published on 6 July 2019.
On Friday, July 6, 2019, a devastating Taliban mortar attack struck a market in the Khwaja Sabz Posh district of Faryab province, Afghanistan, leaving a trail of death and destruction.
According to Afghan army spokesman Hanif Rezaee, 14 civilians lost their lives, while 40 others, including women and children, were injured in the attack.
Rezaee stated that the Taliban had been attempting to hit an army checkpoint near the market, but it is unclear if they were successful in their target.
Naem Musamim, Faryab's public health director, confirmed that 14 bodies and 39 wounded people, including four children, were taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Some of the victims with critical injuries were airlifted to hospitals in Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province for further medical attention.
Separately, a bomb detonated inside a Shia mosque in Ghazni city in central Afghanistan, killing two worshippers and wounding 20 others, according to Ghazni governor spokesman Aref Noori.
Baz Mohammad Hemat, the director of Ghazni hospital, reported that one of those killed and 14 of the wounded were children.
Friday is Afghanistan's day off, and many children attend mosque for prayers on the day of worship.
The Taliban denied involvement in the attack on Twitter, but the Islamic State group's Afghan affiliate has a history of conducting attacks on Shia targets.
The deadly incidents come as the war between the Taliban and Afghan security forces rages on, even as Taliban officials meet with US negotiators in Doha to discuss a potential peace agreement.
