Taliban militant storm Afghan court, kill five

Five Taliban militant were killed on Wednesday when they attacked a court in the Afghan city of Ghazni, battling with police for over an hour which also saw five other people also killed in the attack.

The attack is coming just days after the Taliban, who are fighting to oust President Ashraf Ghani government, promised to carry out retaliation for last month execution of six Taliban captives convicted of terrorism offenses, as part of a tougher security policy in retaliation for an April suicide attack in Kabul in which 64 people were killed..

The assault began when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of the court and four more attackers battle their way inside, sparking an hour-long duel with police, said city police chief Aminullah Amarkhil.

"Four civilian visitors and a policeman were killed in the attack but our forces were on high alert and shot dead the other bombers in no time," he said.

The court building in the city of Kabul, was damaged, he said.

Spokesmen for the Taliban were not available for comment.

Leader of the Taliban was killed in a drone attack in southwest Pakistan on May 21 by the US, but his death did not have serious impact on the violence.