14 killed, dozens wounded

At least 14 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a busy market in northern Afghanistan was hit by mortar fire, officials said yesterday. Several Taliban shells hit the market Friday morning in the Khwaja Sabz Posh district of Faryab province, according to Hanif Rezaee, an Afghan army spokesman. “Fourteen civilians were killed and 40 -- including women and children -- were wounded,” Rezaee told AFP. He said the Taliban had been trying to hit an army checkpoint near the market. The insurgent group did not immediately comment.