Kabul (CNN) Three people are dead after children found and played with an unexploded mortar in Afghanistan on Sunday, provincial authorities said.

A mother, her daughter and another girl died when the mortar detonated in the Sorkhrod district of Nangarhar Province, the Nangarhar authority media office said.

Eight other people were injured, including two girls, it said.

The mortar is believed to have been fired by Taliban militants on Saturday, with the deadly explosion occurring Sunday at 7 a.m.

The Taliban has been waging a bitter fight in Afghanistan with the ultimate goal of ruling the country and imposing its strict interpretation of Islamic law. The group controlled Afghanistan until 2001, when it was overthrown by the US-led coalition that invaded the country following the 9/11 attacks.