Afghan Taliban Suicide Hit Kills 53 in Courtroom; All 10 Taliban Fighters on Trial Manage to Escape

Nine Taliban suicide bombers killed themselves and 44 others today (April 3, 2013) in an attack on a courtroom in western Afghanistan, where 10 of their comrades were on trial, according to the Reuters website.

Causing the biggest death toll in a single attack since 2011, the nine terrorists -- strapped with explosives -- stormed the governor's compound in the capital of Farah province, bordering Iran, where the trial was taking place.

Thirty-four of the dead were civilians -- the rest were Afghan security forces -- the governor's spokesman Abdul Rahman Zhwandai said. The Taliban said all 10 of its fighters who were on trial were freed.

Farah province -- where U.S. and Italian troops were stationed -- saw a sharp deterioration in security last year, with increased targeting of government officials and a regrouping of insurgent networks, according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN).