Gunmen kill two female Supreme Court judges in Afghanistan: police

Unidentified gunmen killed two female judges from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court on Sunday morning, police said.

The two judges, who have not yet been named, were killed and their driver wounded, in an attack at around 8:30am, police said, adding the case was being investigated by security forces.

A spokesman for the Taliban said the group was not involved.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning attacks on civilians by militant groups.

Ghani said “terror, horror and crime” was not a solution to Afghanistan’s problem.

Government officials, journalists, and activists have been targeted in recent months, stoking fear particularly in the capital Kabul.

Rising violence has complicated US-brokered peace talks taking place in Doha as Washington withdraws troops.

Sources on both sides say negotiations are only likely to make substantive progress once US President-elect Joe Biden takes office and makes his Afghan policy known.

The number of US troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, the lowest level of American forces there since 2001, according to the Pentagon on Friday.