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Thursday March 28, 2024

Two Afghan SC women judges killed in Kabul ambush

By AFP
January 18, 2021

KABUL: Gunmen shot dead two Afghan women judges, working for the Supreme Court, in an ambush in the country’s capital Sunday, officials said, an attack the top US envoy in Kabul blamed on the Taliban. Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months despite ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and government -- especially in Kabul, where a new trend of targeted killings aimed at high-profile figures has sown fear in the restive city.

The latest attack, which US Charge D´Affaires Ross Wilson blamed on the Taliban, comes just two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to2,500, the lowest in nearly two decades.

The attack on the judges happened as they were driving to their office in a court vehicle, said Ahmad Fahim Qaweem, a spokesman for the Supreme Court. "Unfortunately, we have lost two women judges in today´s attack. Their driver is wounded," Qaweem said.

There are more than 200 female judges, working for the country´s top court, the spokesman added. Kabul police confirmed the attack, which no group has claimed so far.

The latest attack drew widespread condemnation, with Wilson blaming the Taliban directly as he called for an investigation. "The Taliban should understand that such actions for which it bears responsibility outrage the world and must cease if peace is to come to Afghanistan," wrote Wilson on Twitter.

Following the attacks the American embassy in Kabul updated its travel advisory, saying "US citizens already in Afghanistan should consider departing". President Ashraf Ghani also accused the Taliban of launching an "illegitimate war and hostility". "The government once again reiterates its call on the Taliban that violence, terror, brutality and crimes will only prolong the war in the country," he said in a statement issued by the presidential palace.

The top British envoy to Kabul, Alison Blake, condemned the "appalling targeted attack" on the judges as she called for an investigation. The head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission also condemned the murders, calling the ongoing killings a "systematic massacre".

"Afghanistan is losing one of its most important gains, its educated & professional cadre, in what seems to be a systematic massacre & the world seems to be just watching. This must stop," tweeted Shaharzad Akbar.

"The Taliban´s campaign of unclaimed attacks and targeted killings of government officials, civil society leaders & journalists must cease for peace to succeed," Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said on Twitter.