Four children were killed in northern Baghlan province early Wednesday while playing with an unexploded mortar bomb, Baghlan police said in a statement on Thursday.

The incident happened at about 6:10pm local time in Burka district of the province when children found the explosive device, read the statement.

“The children found the mortar and were playing with it. When they hit it with stones the mortar exploding and killed all four children,” it said.

The statement said that the incident happened in an area which is under insurgent control.