Taliban violence across Afghanistan

A rash of violence swept Afghanistan on Saturday, with Taliban militants launching at least four separate attacks on targets in and around the capital, Kabul.

Late Friday night, two US soldiers were killed when insurgents attacked a military convoy near Bagram airbase. A total of 65 foreign troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan this year, 50 of them Americans.

A second attack targeted Atiqullah Rawoofi, the head of the Afghan Supreme Court's secretariat, as he left his home in a northwestern Kabul suburb to head to work. He was shot dead by two men on a motorbike, according to a colleague of Rawoofi who commented anonymously out of fear of retribution. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assassination in a text message, but it did not explain why Rawoofi was singled out.

In a separate message claiming responsibility for Thursday's attack in an auditorium that took the life of a German citizen, the Taliban had warned that all civil society groups were potential targets.

A few hours after Rawoofi's killing, a group of landmine removal workers engaged in a firefight with insurgents that left at least 12 dead and another 12 wounded in the southern province of Helmand. A manager with Star Link, the company operating the demining project, said 81 workers were on the site when the gunmen arrived.

This was followed by a bomb denotation in Kabul itself, which occurred on a bus carrying Afghan soldiers. The suicide attacker killed 14 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers with him, according to German news agency dpa.

ANA buses and convoys are regularly targeted by the Taliban.

Von der Leyen urges caution

The spike in violence coincided with a surprise visit from German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday, and reinforced her message that a slow and calculated pullout of Western troops was necessary. She said that an "abrupt end" to the NATO mission in the country would be a disaster.

Von der Leyen spoke of the need to "carry on this mission to the end with prudence, but also with enough time," as the Taliban is clearly trying to destabilize Ashraf Ghani's new government. Most foreign troops are preparing to leave by the end of the month.

Some 12,000 soldiers, mostly American, soldiers will remain to train and support the Afghan army as part of a mission called "Resolute Support."

Although the step-down from a combat role has been highly anticipated after 13 years of war, officials are cautious to name a final end date for NATO's advisory mission in Afghanistan, in which Germany will play an active role.

es/jm (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)