Nabil said that while Sharif was making that statement, Taliban militants were beheading and killing innocent Afghan civilians at Kandahar Airfield and in the provinces of Helmand, Takhar, and Badkhshan.
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Taliban militants killed more than 50 people at an airport in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar late Tuesday and Wednesday during an audacious 20-hour assault, just as diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks between the Islamist insurgency and the Afghan government picked up momentum.
Thomson ReutersAfghan President Ashraf Ghani participates in “The New Beginning in Afghanistan: A Conversation with H.E. Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan” at Columbia University in New YorkThe resignation raises fresh questions over the leadership of Afghanistan’s security apparatus, which has struggled to contain a Taliban insurgency that has gained momentum since global forces ended most combat operations previous year.
“A group of 11 terrorists attacked a bazaar and a school in the airport complex, took up positions in the area and blew themselves among civilians”.
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, whose rivalry has spilled over into Afghan politics, will resume dialogue and restart high-level talks last held in 2012, said Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was also attending the conference.
Two US marines were killed and millions of dollars’ worth of aircraft were destroyed in the unprecedented attack before the entire raiding force was killed or captured.
“When I first read it, it’s always hard to see an attack like that happen with the loss of life”, said Sajjan.
The airport compound houses the joint North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Afghan military headquarters.
The siege is the latest in a series of major gains by Taliban militants against Kabul’s forces in recent months. At least nine militants were also killed.
Some passengers were also trapped inside the civilian terminal, far from the fighting in the sprawling complex, when their commercial flight to India was suspended, Kandahar airport director Ahmadullah Faizi told AFP. A spokesman for Nato’s resolute support mission said there had been no reports of casualties among the hundreds of worldwide personnel at the air base. More fighting was expected in the province on Thursday as special forces were to try to recapture the district.
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Afghan officials often accuse neighbouring Pakistan of supporting Taliban activities in their country.
