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KABUL: Unidentified gunmen killed two female judges from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court in an ambush in the country’s capital on Sunday, police said, adding to a wave of assassinations in Kabul and other cities while government and Taliban representatives have been holding peace talks in Qatar.
The two judges, who have not yet been named, were killed and their driver wounded, in an attack at around 8.30am (local time), police said, adding the case was being investigated. The attack happened as they were driving to their office in a court vehicle, a spokesman for the court said. A spokesman for the Taliban said its fighters were not involved. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned attacks on civilians by the Taliban and other militant groups. He said “terror, horror and crime” was not a solution to Afghanistan’s problem and beseeched the Taliban to accept “a permanent ceasefire”. Government officials, journalists, and activists have been targeted in recent months.
The latest attack, which US charge d’affaires Ross Wilson blamed on the Taliban, comes two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, the fewest in nearly two decades. Wilson also called for an investigation.
Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months especially in Kabul, where a new trend of targeted killings aimed at high-profile figures has sown fear in the restive city.
The Taliban has denied involvement in some of the attacks, but has said it would continue to “eliminate” important government figures, though not journalists or civil society members
The two judges, who have not yet been named, were killed and their driver wounded, in an attack at around 8.30am (local time), police said, adding the case was being investigated. The attack happened as they were driving to their office in a court vehicle, a spokesman for the court said. A spokesman for the Taliban said its fighters were not involved. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned attacks on civilians by the Taliban and other militant groups. He said “terror, horror and crime” was not a solution to Afghanistan’s problem and beseeched the Taliban to accept “a permanent ceasefire”. Government officials, journalists, and activists have been targeted in recent months.
The latest attack, which US charge d’affaires Ross Wilson blamed on the Taliban, comes two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, the fewest in nearly two decades. Wilson also called for an investigation.
Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months especially in Kabul, where a new trend of targeted killings aimed at high-profile figures has sown fear in the restive city.
The Taliban has denied involvement in some of the attacks, but has said it would continue to “eliminate” important government figures, though not journalists or civil society members
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