Taliban insurgents kill 19 in Afghanistan as NATO deadline looms

 KABUL: Taliban insurgents killed at least 19 people in a series of gun and suicide attacks in Afghanistan Saturday, underlining worsening security as US-led NATO forces end their combat mission in the country.
A suicide blast wrecked an Afghan military bus in Kabul, causing an unconfirmed number of casualties, while a senior court official was assassinated in the city and 12 Afghan mine clearance workers were gunned down in the south.
Two NATO soldiers were also killed Friday in an attack in the east of Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement, without identifying their nationality.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for all the attacks, according to a news agency.