His message made specific mention of the Taliban’s almost 26-hour siege on residential buildings near Kandahar Airfield, in southern Afghanistan, which ended Wednesday and resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.
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The attack began late Tuesday afternoon when a group of Taliban suicide bombers armed with rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and hand grenades broke through a main entrance of the airport, said Gen. Abdul Razaq Sherzai, the Afghan air force commander in Kandahar province.
Those killed in the attack include 39 civilian males, of whom at least four were boys, 13 Afghan National Army and two Afghan National Police”, the statement said, adding that “The majority of the deceased appeared to be civilian shopkeepers working at the bazaar and civilian customers.
The Defense Ministry said the last of the 11 militants behind the assault were killed late Wednesday. There were no coalition casualties.
Taliban attacks have been rising in Afghanistan after it was revealed in late July that Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s former leader, had been killed.
At least one incident of hostage-taking attack was also reported.
Afghan special forces deployed to the scene had to move slowly to retake the airport as any sudden action could have caused civilian casualties due to a hostage situation, military officials said.
Taliban fighters carrying machine guns had targeted foreign forces, a Taliban spokesman said in a statement.
The offensive removed Taliban from power, but insecurity still remains in some provinces.
A military commander said radio intercepts showed some assailants were speaking Urdu, a language more common in neighbouring Pakistan, the Taliban s historic backer.
The raid coincides with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s high-profile visit to Pakistan yesterday for the Heart of Asia conference aimed at promoting regional ties and reviving stalled Afghan peace talks with the insurgents.
The attack comes amid reports of infighting among Taliban leaders.
Mansour’s group has seen a resurgence in recent months, opening new battlefronts across the country with Afghan forces struggling to rein in the expanding insurgency.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been going through a very rough patch.
And Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan stressed his commitment to “an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process”, a reference to the talks hosted by Islamabad.
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Ties between Ghani and Nabil have been strained since the Taliban’s three-day capture of Kunduz city in September, which marked their biggest success in 14 years of war.
