Two gunmen killed as clerics meet to endorse Taliban rule

KABUL: Two gunmen were shot dead in the Afghan capital on Thursday near the site of a gathering by thousands of religious scholars called to endorse the Taliban’s Islamist rule.

Taliban officials said the two started firing from a rooftop near where the meeting was taking place, but were "quickly eliminated by Mujahideen with the help of Allah the Almighty". Officials have provided scant details of the three-day men-only "jirga" -- a traditional gathering of clerics and influential people that settles differences by consensus -- and the media is also barred from attending.

Some speeches were broadcast on state radio -- with clerics calling for absolute loyalty to the Taliban’s rule. "Obedience is the most important principle of the system," Habibullah Haqqani, the head of the gathering, said in his opening remarks. "We must obey all our leaders in all affairs, sincerely and truly."