Taliban attack kills five at Afghan court

KABUL - At least five people were killed on Sunday when Taliban gunmen attacked a courthouse in eastern Afghanistan, an attack the insurgent group said was in retaliation for the government execution of six militants in May. Two attackers opened fire at an appeals court in Pul-e Alam in Logar province, just south of the Afghan capital city of Kabul, according to the province's deputy police chief Nesar Ahmad Abdul Rahimzai. Among the five killed in the attack was the newly named head of the appeals court, Rahimzai said. The gunmen injured at least 19 other people before being killed by security forces, he added. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying it was in response to the government's execution of six Taliban prisoners in early May. The executions followed a deadly attack in Kabul that killed at least 64 people, prompting President Ashraf Ghani to declare that the "time of unjustified amnesty" for insurgents was over. -Reuters