The brazen raid on the sprawling compound, which also houses a joint Nato-Afghan base, is the second major Taleban assault in as many days in the city recognised as the birthplace of the Taleban.
Advertisement
Co-operation between Afghanistan and Pakistan is essential to ending the insurgency by the Afghan Taliban, who have bases on both sides of the countries’ porous border. It added 17 other soldiers, four policemen and 14 civilians were wounded. The assailants also took some families hostage, using them as “human shields” after storming the complex as an attempt to slow down the military’s advance.
UNAMA said that the majority of the deceased appeared to be civilian shopkeepers working at the bazaar and civilian customers; of the 42 injured, at least 23 are civilian, including a woman and a girl.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Ministry of Defence said the last attacker was killed on Wednesday night at around 8:30pm. The photo showed 10 young men sporting trimmed beards, Kalashnikovs and identical military uniforms.
The face of one of them is obscured with blue ink for reasons that were not revealed. By evening Wednesday, one remaining attacker was still battling security forces, the statement said.
Separately, the Taliban claimed to have captured Khanashin district in southern Helmand province.
– Boost for peace talks?
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says its fighters entered the base and attacked local and foreign military personnel there.
The NDS chief’s resignation comes just a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani while attending the “Heart of Asia” conference in Islamabad agreed to restart dialogue with the Taliban.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, co-chairing the conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, condemned the attack on Kandahar airport.
Pakistan, which has historically supported the Afghan Taleban and wields considerable influence over the insurgents, hosted a milestone first round of peace talks in July.
The Taliban pulled out of the talks earlier this year after Afghanistan’s intelligence service revealed that their leader Mullah Mohammed Omar had been dead for up to two years.
Meanwhile, reports from Afghanistan’s western Herat province said at least 100 insurgent were killed in clashes between rival Taliban factions there-the mainstream group loyal to Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and the breakaway faction that follows renegade Taliban commander Mullah Mohammad Rasool.
The Taliban released an audio message Saturday purportedly from Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as “enemy propaganda”.
The attack on Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban, is yet another ambitious attack by a reinvigorated insurgent movement that has been emboldened by the drawdown of worldwide combat troops.
Advertisement
Thomson ReutersAfghan forces prepare for battle with Taliban on the outskirts of Kunduz city, northern AfghanistanThe president’s official Facebook page, which announced the resignation, was immediately flooded with hundreds of angry comments from Afghanistan’s active social media users, a lot of them abusing the government.
