Afghan official: mortar attack in Kandahar kills 5 people

An Afghan official says that a mortar shell struck a taxi in the southern Kandahar province, killing at least five civilians including two children

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A mortar shell struck a taxi in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province on Sunday, killing at least five civilians including two children, an Afghan official said. Provincial police spokesman Jamal Naser Barekzai blamed the Taliban for the attack, although the militants denied responsibility. Both the Taliban and the government routinely blame each other for attacks on civilians in the capital Kabul and elsewhere. The perpetrators are rarely identified, and the public is seldom informed of the results of investigations into the violence. The war between the Taliban and Afghanistan's national security and defense forces has intensified over the past few months, as U.S. and NATO troops complete their pullout from the war-torn country. The Taliban are now trying to seize provincial capitals, after already taking smaller administrative districts in the past months.