Kabul, Jun 11 (EFE).- Seventeen civilians were killed and 39 others wounded Tuesday in a car-bomb attack targeting a bus carrying employees of the Afghan Supreme Court, Kabul's deputy police chief told Efe. The vehicle rigged with explosives was detonated at around 4:30 p.m. in Masoud Square, near the U.S. Embassy, Dawood Amin said, adding that the fatalities include women and children. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the strike.

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents on Tuesday claimed a suicide car bombing that targeted staff of the Supreme Court and killed 14 civilians in Kabul. The militants said the attack was carried out to punish Afghan judges for sentencing to death Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government. "Today's attack was a warning should they (judges) continue to give tyrannical verdicts and intimidate (our) countrymen," said a copy of their statement sent to AFP. sak/jm/ia

Kabul, Jun 10 (EFE).- Seven Taliban fighters died Monday in an attack on the Kabul airport, the Afghan capital's police chief told Efe. Two members of the Taliban unit exploded suicide bombs and another five were gunned down by security forces, while the civilian population suffered no casualties, Mohammad Ayub Salangi said. He said the insurgents were armed with explosives, grenades and automatic rifles and took cover in two half-completed buildings near the airport, from where they traded shots with security forces for several hours.

Taliban insurgents on Monday launched a grenade and gun attack on Kabul airport, firing on military facilities before being overwhelmed in an operation hailed as a victory for Afghan security forces. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and all five other attackers were killed when elite Afghan troops stormed two multi-storey buildings where the militants were holed up near the airport's perimeter fence.