KABUL , (DNA) – Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan-Eight children, including four siblings, were killed in Afghanistan when a mortar shell they were playing with exploded, relatives said Saturday, adding to the ever-growing civilian toll in the 17-year war.

Another six children were wounded in the blast on Friday, including two who had lost limbs and were in a critical condition in a hospital in the northwestern province of Faryab.

All the children were aged between five and 12.

“They found an unexploded mortar shell and brought it near our house,” Shukrullah, an uncle of four of the children killed, told.

“They didn´t know what it was and were trying to open it when it suddenly exploded.”