TWO FEMALE JUDGES KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

Gunmen shot dead two female Afghan judges working for the Supreme Court in an ambush in the country’s capital Sunday, officials said, an attack that the top u.s. envoy in Kabul blamed on the Taliban.

Violence has surged across Afghanistan in recent months despite ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and government — especially in Kabul. The spate of almost daily unclaimed killings is thought to be largely the work of the Taliban, in what is feared to be in part a chilling new campaign to silence liberal voices.

Many of the attacks appear aimed at removing advocates of a liberal society at odds with the conservative religious creed espoused by the militants.

The Taliban officially deny involvement in the attacks, which have included street shootings and bombings.

yet some commanders admitted that they considered prominent liberals a target.

Appeals to the Taliban to impose a ceasefire as part of stumbling peace talks with the Afghan government have so far been rejected.