At least nine people were killed and 15 injured when Taliban suicide bombers armed with AK-47s and wearing military uniforms, struck at the airport complex in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a major base for American military and intelligence forces, Nato and the Afghan Army.
Al Jazeera channel said at least 10 Taliban suicide bombers were also killed in the attack.
Most of those injured were shop owners caught in the blasts or crossfire.
Taliban militants targeted some residential buildings housing government employees as well as military bases at the airport.
Homes of Afghan army officials were among those attacked. Some shops were torched.
The insurgents managed to breach the first gate of one of the most heavily-fortified military compounds in the country at 6.20 pm, Samim Khpalwak, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, said.
Khopalwaq said the attackers encountered stiff resistance from Afghan forces and the exchange of fire went on till 11 pm.
The victims were killed in blasts or were caught in the crossfire.
“They (Taliban militants) took position in a school inside the complex,” Mohammad Mohsin Sultani, the military spokesman in Kandahar, said earlier adding that the exact number of attackers was unclear and Afghan troops were engaged in a heavy gunfight with them.
The Taliban are strong in southern Afghanistan, where the majority of people are Pakhtuns.
Earlier in November, Taliban claimed responsibility of the deadly suicide attack that killed six people, including one soldier, in Kandahar.
In October, Taliban fighters on motorbikes had carried out hit-and-run attacks on Afghan forces trying to clear Kunduz city of insurgents, more than a week after the militant movement briefly seized the provincial capital.
Afghan forces, hindered by the slow arrival of reinforcements but backed by limited United States (US) air support, struggled to regain control of the city after three days of heavy fighting.
The Taliban stepped up attacks during a summer offensive launched in late April against the Western-backed government in Kabul.
After years of costly involvement, most Nato troops pulled back from the front lines by the end of 2014, although a residual force of around 13,000 remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.( agencies)
Link: http://atimes.com/2015/12/taliban-storm-kandahar-airport-complex-clashes-underway/
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