Taliban gun down Afghanistan Supreme Court official

Taliban militants have shot dead a top official of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, the latest in a spate of strikes in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as most foreign troops prepare to withdraw from the country later in December.

Gunmen killed Atiqullah Raoufi, the head of the secretariat of the Afghan Supreme Court, as he left his home in western parts of Kabul on Saturday.

“As Atiqullah Raoufi was leaving his house, gunmen opened fire and shot him dead,” Hashmat Stanekzai, spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, said.

He added that no one has been detained following the attack.

The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but did not comment on the motive.

Heavily fortified Kabul is on high alert after militants stepped up attacks in recent weeks.

At least one person has been killed and some 15 others injured after a bomber detonated its explosives-packed vest inside a school in the center of Kabul on Thursday. No group has claimed responsibility for the fatal assault.

In a similar bomb attack earlier in the day, six Afghan soldiers were killed and 11 others wounded when a bomber on foot attacked a bus carrying Afghan armed forces in the suburbs of Kabul. The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility for the blast.

Another explosion also struck near the Bagram Airbase, which is the largest US military base in Afghanistan, on the same day.

The Taliban militants have stepped up their attacks against Afghan troops, foreign forces and civilians.

The group has vowed to escalate attacks on Afghan forces and US-led troops, their bases, diplomatic missions and vehicle convoys before the foreign forces partially exit the country at the end of 2014.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country.