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Shelling Kills 3 Civilians, Injures 5 More North of Kabul

© REUTERS / Mustafa AndalibAfghan National Army forces stand guard in Ghazni province, Afghanistan May 18, 2020.
Afghan National Army forces stand guard in Ghazni province, Afghanistan May 18, 2020.  - Sputnik International
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KABUL (Sputnik) - A mortar shell hit a home in the eastern Afghan province of Parwan on Saturday, killing three civilians and wounding five others, a spokeswoman for the governor said.
The Parwan governor's spokeswoman, Wahida Shahkar, said Taliban* insurgents were behind the attack, which took place in the Siahgard district, north of Kabul.

But the Taliban* militant group denied a role in the shelling and blamed it on government troops. Fighting resumed in Afghanistan after the three-day ceasefire between the national government and Taliban* on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting period, expired on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the government released some 710 Taliban* prisoners as part of President Ashraf Ghani's commitment to free 2,000 militants in response to the Eid ceasefire. Another 900 Taliban* prisoners were released across the country on Tuesday.

Previously, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called for a halt to fighting and the initiation of intra-Afghan peace negotiations in its latest civilian casualty report after preliminary figures revealed a significant increase in Afghan civilian casualties for April.

The government and Taliban* are attempting to strike a deal, which seeks to end nearly two decades of war in the country and facilitate American troop withdrawal.

*Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia.

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