DHAKA: Taliban gunmen have shot dead 12 people working to clear landmines in southern Helmand province.

Afghan police say, reports the BBC.

In the capital, Kabul, a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying Afghan soldiers, and the Taliban said it killed a senior Supreme Court official.

And Nato said two of its soldiers died when insurgents attacked close to the main international base north of Kabul.

The incidents come amid an upsurge of Taliban violence as the US and Nato mission in Afghanistan nears its end.

Taliban fighters attacked the landmine-clearing operation early on Saturday, shooting 12 workers dead and injuring another 12, police spokesman Farid Ahmad Obaid told reporters.

He said Afghan soldiers later took on the militants in a gun battle, killing four and capturing three.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and clearing projects have been targeted by Taliban militants in the past. In April, Taliban gunmen killed 12 landmine clearers in Logar province.

BDST: 2003 HRS, DEC 13, 2014