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Afghan police say senior official of the country's Supreme Court shot dead by gunmen in Kabul

Associated Press
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Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

Bystanders look at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

Afghan officials say a senior official of the country's Supreme Court has been shot dead by gunmen in the capital, Kabul.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack early Saturday morning that killed Atiqullah Rawoofi, the head of the secretariat of the Afghan Supreme Court.

Farid Afzali, chief of the Kabul police criminal investigation unit, says the attack took place near Rawoofi's home in Kabul's northwestern neighborhoods.

A colleague of Rawoofi, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, says two men on a motorbike shot Rawoofi as he was walking from his home to his car.

Taliban militants have intensified their attacks on the Afghan capital just weeks ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of the year.