U.S. soldiers guard at the site of a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2015. At least two people were killed while several others wounded after a suicide bombing targeted the Turkish embassy's vehicles in front of the Iranian Embassy here on Thursday morning, sources said.Photo:Xinhua

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday denounced "unprecedented" sanctions imposed on its prosecutor by the US in retaliation for a probe into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.

The Hague-based tribunal said the sanctions against prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior official, Phakiso Mochochoko, were "serious attacks" against the rule of law.

"The International Criminal Court condemns the economic sanctions imposed by the US earlier today on the court's prosecutor and a member of her office," ICC said.

The war crimes court said it "continues to stand firmly by its personnel and its mission of fighting impunity for the world's most serious crimes."

The ICC was founded by the Rome Statute, which entered into force in 2002, and has since been signed by 123 countries.

The head of the ICC's Assembly of States Parties, which groups the court's member countries, said separately that it would meet to discuss how to support the tribunal in the face of the US measures.

"I strongly reject such unprecedented and unacceptable measures against a treaty-based international organization," said assembly president O-Gon Kwon.

"They only serve to weaken our common endeavor to fight impunity for mass atrocities."

The US move came after US President Donald Trump authorized sanctions on the ICC on June 11 for probing and prosecuting US troops.

AFP