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.
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Afghan military officials say the insurgents began the assault from an area where residential buildings are located.
“There is an affirmation of the need now to engage in this process or maybe, more accurately, reengage in it”, said US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attended the conference in Islamabad.
The Taliban statement said suicide attackers armed with both light and heavy weapons had entered the base and attacked global forces and their Afghan allies.
The airport compound houses Afghan military and civilian sections as well as a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base. But the militants have often made exaggerated casualty claims in the past. It shows 10 young men sporting trimmed beards, Kalashnikovs and identical military uniforms. “Our innocent countrymen were being martyred and beheaded in Kandahar airfield… at the moment when [Pakistan] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once again said Afghanistan’s enemy is Pakistan’s enemy”, he wrote.
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.
With ultimate mopping up operations continuing late on Wednesday. afternoon in Kandahar, 24 hours after the attack started, 37 civilians & members of Afghan safety forces had been killed & 35 wounded, the defense ministry stated.
Ghani’s willingness to visit Afghanistan’s longtime nemesis has signalled a renewed push to mend badly frayed cross-border ties, which could help jumpstart peace talks with the insurgents.
The raid also comes after days of fevered speculation about the fate of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour following reports that he was critically wounded in a firefight with his own commanders in Pakistan.
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They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years.
