7 killed as mortar shell hits house in Afghanistan

Seven civilians have been killed in a mortar shelling in Afghanistan's Kapisa province, the police said on Wednesday.

The incident happened late on Tuesday in Tagab district's Jalokhil village, where a Taliban-fired shell hit a house leaving seven members of a family dead, provincial police spokesman Abdul Shakor Shorush told Xinhua news agency.

"All killed individuals were women and children," said the police spokesman.

Meanwhile, Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, denied the report. He wrote on Twitter that the shell was fired by government security forces.