Report: Taliban targets supreme court in latest Kabul attack

The explosion took place near a residential area by the court’s main building, Kabul police chief Gen. Muhaman Zahir Zahir told CBS News on Tuesday. 

{mosads}The U.S. Embassy was also in the blast zone, but Afghan officials claim the diplomatic outpost was not the target of the attack. 

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the bombing, which was the second major terrorist strike inside the Afghan capitol in as many days. 

On Monday, Afghan military and police repelled a coordinated Taliban attack against the main airport in Kabul, ending with the deaths of seven insurgents. 

Waves of Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers assaulted the airport, looking to breach the military side of the facility that serves as headquarters to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command, according to recent reports.

At no time was the ISAF side of the airport breached, and no American or NATO troops were killed in the ensuing gun battle, a command official said. 

U.S. and coalition commanders warned attacks like Monday’s airport assault would be the hallmark of this year’s fighting season, likely the last one for U.S. forces before they withdraw in 2014. 

Roughly 66,000 American troops remain in Afghanistan, with half of those forces scheduled to withdraw from the country this spring. 

Top American military leaders have already begun coordinating that postwar plan with NATO, in anticipation of the 2014 draw down deadline. 

The United States, Germany and Italy committed to serve as “lead nations” for the training mission, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said after the conclusion of a NATO meeting in Brussels earlier this month. 

The U.S. military will be the largest contributor, taking the lead in the more volatile eastern and southern regions. Germany and Italy will serve as lead nations in the west and north.

The final 32,000 American forces remaining in the country will start coming home following the country’s presidential election in April 2014 — officially ending America’s combat role.