UNAMA condemns Kabul suicide attack that killed eleven

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has condemned a suicide attack in Kabul which killed at least 11 people on Wednesday.

"The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns today's suicide attack in an outlying western suburb of Kabul which killed eleven civilians and injured ten," Khaama Press quoted a statement by the UN mission as saying.

The statement highlighted that the suicide bomber detonated against a shuttle bus transporting employees of the Maidan Wardak provincial court killed children.

"The blast, that occurred in the Pul-e-Bagh Daud Area of the Paghman District of Kabul Province, killed and injured civilian passengers of the bus and bystanders in the area, including six children," the statement said.

The UN mission verified 14 separate attacks targeting judges, prosecutors and judicial staff, which killed at least nine civilian and left nineteen injured, as well as four incidents of abduction of judicial staff since January 1.

The statement said that the Taliban claimed responsibility for seven of these incidents.

Nicholas Haysom, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, condemned the attacks saying, "Attacks against judicial authorities are cowardly and contrary to international humanitarian law."

He added "I unreservedly condemn today's attack, demand accountability for the perpetrators and urge authorities to do everything in their power to ensure adequate protection of judicial officials.