Kabul, Afghanistan • Three separate Taliban attacks killed at least 19 people in Afghanistan on Saturday, including a senior judicial official and personnel working to clear one of the most heavily mined regions of the world.
The attacks came amid a spike in violence just weeks before the international military mission in Afghanistan comes to an end on Dec. 31., 13 years after the September 11 attacks sparked a U.S.-led invasion to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban's extremist regime.
As the Taliban insurgency vows to maintain its campaign against government, military and foreign targets, the attacks have sparked tight security in Kabul and concerns among Afghans that the situation can only worsen after foreign forces have transitioned to a support role from Jan. 1.
The U.S. and NATO will leave around 13,000 troops in the country, with sliding reductions over the coming two years. With the end of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, the residual troops are meant to offer training and support to Afghan security forces that have been leading the anti-insurgency fight while suffering record casualties since the middle of last year.
President Ashraf Ghani made it clear during recent overseas trips that he believes Afghanistan needs ongoing financial and military support as the insurgency intensifies and spreads.
"We are not yet able to do everything alone. Your continued support will, therefore, be key in ensuring that our collective gains of the 13 years will be enduring," Ghani told NATO foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this month.
U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to extend the remit of the U.S. troops remaining in the Afghanistan, allowing them to conduct anti-terrorist operations against the Taliban as well as al Qaeda, and to provide combat support as necessary, also tacitly acknowledges the security challenges the country faces.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Saturday attacks, as well as one late Friday in which two American soldiers were killed, according to an international military official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as the information wasn't authorized for release. The soldiers died when a suicide bomber targeted their convoy near the Bagram air base, outside Kabul in Parwan province.
Their deaths took to 65 the total number of international troops to die in Afghanistan this year, 50 of them Americans. Some 3,500 foreign forces, including at least 2,210 American soldiers, have been killed since the war began in 2001. By comparison, Afghan security casualties spiked 6.5 percent this year, with 4,634 killed in action by the end of September.
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Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. The explosion struck the Defense Ministry bus in southwest Kabul, said Khadam Shah Shahim, Kabul division commander of the Afghan National Army. In Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, Taliban fighters shot dead at least 12 workers clearing mines Saturday, authorities said, part of a series of attacks that saw two U.S. troops killed and a top Afghan court official gunned down. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security personnel inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. The explosion struck the Defense Ministry bus in southwest Kabul, said Khadam Shah Shahim, Kabul division commander of the Afghan National Army. In Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, Taliban fighters shot dead at least 12 workers clearing mines Saturday, authorities said, part of a series of attacks that saw two U.S. troops killed and a top Afghan court official gunned down. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security personnel inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Bystanders look at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
An Afghan soldier stands guard at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
An Afghan soldier inspects a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
An Afghan soldier stands guard standing by a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Bystanders look at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan security guards inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan soldiers stand around a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. A senior Afghan defense official said that the suicide bomber struck the Defense Ministry bus carrying Afghan Army personnel, killing several as violence in the country spikes just weeks before most international combat forces withdraw. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
