Three civilians killed in Afghan rocket attack

Three civilians were killed and two injured when militants fired a rocket towards Pul-e-Khumri city of Afghanistan on Tuesday morning.

"The rocket fired by Taliban militants struck a house in Pul-e-Khumri, killing three members of a family and injuring two others," Xinhua quoted police spokesman Zabiullah Shoja as saying.

The injured were shifted to a hospital in the city, he said.

Several rockets and mortar shells have hit the city since fighting began between security forces and Taliban militants in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabudin districts in the past one month.

More than 3,540 civilians were killed and over 7,450 injured as violence spread to different parts of the war-torn country last year, according to a report released by the UN mission in the country on February 14.

The report attributed 62 percent of the casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 17 percent to security forces while the rest 21 percent of civilian casualties were unattributed or caused by explosive remnants of the war.