Afghan official: Woman killed in mortar attack

An Afghan official says a mortar attack has killed a woman and wounded another eight people, including six children.
Sarhadi Zwak, the spokesman for the governor of Laghman province in eastern Afghanistan, says Taliban insurgents fired several mortar rounds in Dawlar Shah district today.
He says one woman was killed, and two women and six children were wounded. The Afghan army immediately returned fire, he said.
Afghanistan's insurgency, led by the Taliban, has become increasingly virulent in recent months as foreign troops have withdrawn ahead of the official end of the U.S.-led combat mission.
From a peak in 2010 of 140,000, US and NATO forces will be cut to a training and support mission of 13,000 from January 1.