Two Afghan female judges shot dead by gunmen in Kabul ambush

Two female judges have been killed by unknown gunmen in an ambush early on Sunday, in Afghanistan’s capital.

The attack on the supreme court judges took place as they were driving to work, a court spokesman, said.

Kabul police confirmed the attack.

The latest attack comes only two days after the Pentagon announced it reduced troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, the lowest in nearly two decades.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and spokesman for the Taliban armed group Zabihullah Mujahid said the group was not responsible.

 

Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months despite ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and Government.

Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban for the attacks, a charge the militia has denied. Some of these killings have been claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.

Earlier this month, the U.S military for the first time directly accused the Taliban of orchestrating the attacks.

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