Taliban fighters stormed a perimeter section of the heavily fortified site which contains both a civilian airport and the joint Afghan-NATO military base.
Advertisement
Kandahar army commander Sher Shah told reporters that radio intercepts had made clear that some militants were speaking in Urdu – a language more commonly spoken in neighbouring Pakistan.
Kandahar airport director Ahmadullah Faizi told AFP some passengers waiting to board a commercial flight to India had been trapped inside the airport’s civilian terminal, at some distance from the fighting, during the attack.
With final mopping up operations continuing late on Wednesday (Dec 9) afternoon, at least 37 civilians and members of Afghan security forces had been killed and 35 wounded, the defence ministry said.
Residents of the complex said they could hear soldiers pleading with the insurgents to free women and children, and the children screaming, during the fighting. He claimed the assault left 150 soldiers dead but the Islamist insurgency usually exaggerates casualty claims.
A pro-Taliban website said that, “A number of martyrdom seekers armed with heavy and light weapons entered Kandahar air base undetected and attacked invaders and hirelings”.
The violence has also spilled over into Pakistan.
The attack comes on the eve of a regional conference in Pakistan, due to be attended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which is aimed at kickstarting peace talks with the militants.
Ghani’s willingness to visit longtime regional nemesis Pakistan for the conference has signalled a renewed push to jumpstart peace talks with the Taliban.
Despite Ghani’s attendance at the conference, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have cooled, most notably after a series of bomb attacks struck Kabul in August.
The Taliban released an audio message Saturday purportedly from Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as “enemy propaganda”.
The officer said, “The NATO helicopters and aircraft targeted the old school building, and Afghan commandos had also engaged with the attackers”.
Omar’s deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, took over as leader but violent splits have emerged in the militant group.
Advertisement
The Taliban have expanded their footprint across the country in recent months, and in September captured and held the northern city of Kunduz for three days.
