“Unfortunately during the battle, 37 innocent Afghans were killed and 35 others injured”, the ministry said.
Advertisement
However, Afghan security forces managed to repel the attack, which lasted until Wednesday night, following heavy clashes with the militants.
The attack on the sprawling complex, which also houses a joint NATO-Afghan base, is the second major Taliban assault in the space of 24 hours in the city recognised as the birthplace of the Taliban.
The operation began with Taliban fighters disguising themselves in combat fatigues that bore faint resemblance to the U.S. Army’s digital camouflage.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack.
It shows 10 young men sporting trimmed beards, Kalashnikovs and identical military uniforms.
“The terrorist attack has led to casualties but details about the incident will be released later”, the statement added. “Let us not disappoint them”. “We will finish your technology and kill your power”.
Kunduz, the capital of the province with the same name, was held by the Taliban for three days before a government counter-offensive was launched.
Separately, the Taliban claimed to have captured Khanashin district in southern Helmand province.
There was some uncertainty over the exact casualty figures with security forces hunting as many as five insurgents who had survived hours of fighting.
Taliban militants have intensified activities in their former strongholds across Afghanistan over the past months. Afghan officials frequently blame Pakistan for unrest.
Kandahar is known as the birthplace of the Taliban.
“Most of the time, the insurgents, they are coming from Pakistan to Afghanistan”, he said.
Afghanistan has long accused its neighbour of providing safe haven to Taliban insurgents, who have been mounting an increasing number of attacks since most foreign forces left Afghanistan past year.
On Wednesday, Nabil posted a scathing post on Facebook criticizing Ghani’s visit to Pakistan for the Heart of Asia conference, which aims to bolster peace talks in the conflict-stricken country.
“In the past, there has been the temptation to use non-state actors as instruments of foreign policy”, he told the conference, a clear reference to Afghan assertions that Pakistan supports the Taliban to maintain influence in Afghanistan and block the influence of its rival, India.
Advertisement
The recent Taliban siege of the Kandahar airport comes after reports claimed the recently appointed Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in an internal gunfight near the Pakistani city of Quetta last week.
