Kabul, July 23 (IANS): Two civilians were killed and five others wounded after a mortar shell exploded in a shop in Taluqan, capital city of Afghanistan's Takhar province, police said.

"The blast occurred in a blacksmith shop at around midday. A man salvaging for scrap metals has brought the shell to the local bazaar for sale. But the device has exploded, causing the casualties," provincial police spokesman Khalil Asir told Xinhua on Saturday.

Among those killed was a teenage boy and the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital in the city, according to Asir.

Afghan civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed conflicts as more than 1,660 civilians were killed and over 3,580 others injured in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan in the first half of the year, according to figures released by the UN mission in the country.

Land mines, unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war also frequently cause casualties in the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Friday, a teenage girl lost her legs in a land mine explosion in the eastern Nangarhar province, according to local officials.