Two women judges working for the Supreme Court shot dead in Afghanistan by gunmen in an early morning ambush at the capital.

A series of assassinations have continued rattle the South Asian Country, despite ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the government. 

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has blamed the incident on the Taliban. Ghani said, "The government once again reiterates its call on the Taliban that violence, terror, brutality, and crimes... will only prolong the war in the country. They (Taliban) to show their real intent (for peace) should accept a permanent ceasefire."

In recent months, several prominent people in the country including politicians, journalists, activists, doctors, and prosecutors have been assassinated often in broad daylight.  Kabul has seen most of those incidents.

The Taliban was behind more than 18,000 attacks in 2020, according to Afghanistan's Spy chief Ahmad Zia Siraj.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced it had cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500 as part of its deal with the Taliban to withdraw all troops from the country by May 2021.