Afghan govt asks Taliban leader to end war or face dire consequences

KABUL: The Afghan government on Wednesday called on new Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to end the war or face dire consequences.

"Latest developments offer Taliban groups opportunity to end violence and resume peaceful life; else they will face the fate of their leadership," President Ashraf Ghani´s deputy spokesman Sayed Zafar Hashemi said in a tweet.

The United States, Pakistan and China have also been trying to get the militants to the negotiating table to end a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians and security personnel and left Afghanistan seriously unstable.

News of the appointment came as a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying staff from an appeal court west of Kabul, killing 11 people and wounding as many as 10 others, including at least six children.

Taliban spokesman Mujahid said the attack on staff from the judicial system was in response to the Afghan government´s decision earlier this month to execute six Taliban prisoners on death row.

Other attacks would follow, he added. "We will continue on this path," he said in a statement.

The decision by Ghani to execute the prisoners on death row was taken as part of a tougher policy towards the Taliban following a suicide attack by the insurgent movement which killed at least 64 people in Kabul.