Gunmen shoot dead two Afghan women judges in Kabul

The latest attack comes just two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

KABUL (AFP) - Gunmen shot dead two Afghan women judges working for the Supreme Court during an early morning ambush in the country's capital on Sunday (Jan 17), officials said, as a wave of assassinations continues to rattle the nation.

The attack on the judges happened as they were travelling to their office in a court vehicle, Mr Ahmad Fahim Qaweem, a spokesman for the court, told Agence France-Presse.

"Unfortunately, we have lost two women judges in today's attack. Their driver is wounded," Mr Qaweem said.

There are more than 200 female judges working for the country's top court, the spokesman added.

Kabul police confirmed the attack.

"They were judges working for the Supreme Court," said Mr Jamshid Rasuli, spokesman for the Attorney-General's Office.

Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months, especially in Kabul, where a new trend of targeted killings of high-profile figures have sown fear and chaos in the restive city.

The latest attack comes just two days after the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500, its lowest number during the nearly two decades of war.

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Unknown gunmen shot and killed two female judges in Kabul on Sunday as they travelled to work.

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