At least 37 civilians have been killed and 18 others wounded in a 20-hour siege by Taliban militants against a residential complex near the airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, sources said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.
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In a brazen attack, thirty seven people were killed, when Taliban dressed in military uniform attacked the Kandahar airport, triggering a 24-hour gun-battle, on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, Dawlat Waziri, said that “37 people, many of them civilians”, have been killed since Tuesday.
“This is the most serious attack we’ve witnessed against the (Kandahar) complex”, which also houses a joint Nato-Afghan base, the official said.
Bulgarian troops have been deployed to Afghanistan in the past thirteen years for participation in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and its successor the Resolute Support mission.
The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack.
“Nine insurgents have been killed, one other is injured and another one is still holding up against our forces”, the ministry said.
“The Taliban has shown to the Afghan people that they are still strong in the South and can launch an operation like this” even in a supposedly fortified airport compound, Azimy added.
Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial police chief, said the infighting between the Taliban erupted on Monday in the Zerko area and that about 30 fighters from both sides were also wounded.
Also on Wednesday, Taliban militants overran Khanishin district of southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province, killing at least 16 security personnel.
“We are fighting on behalf of all of you, but we are the ones who are suffering some of the worst atrocities”, Mr. Ghani said.
The attack coincided with a regional peace conference in Pakistan where President Ashraf Ghani asked Pakistan to help restart peace talks with the Taliban that were broken off earlier this year. The decision marks a major reversal of USA policy, with one of Obama’s key commitments having been the end of the war in Afghanistan and bringing US troops home.
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.
This year’s annual “Heart of Asia” gathering, at which countries pledge support to Afghanistan, comes months after the first, inconclusive talks were held between the Afghan government and the Islamist militant Taliban.
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“Our innocent countrymen were being martyred and beheaded in Kandahar airfield… at the moment when [Pakistani] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once again called Afghanistan as Pakistan’s enemy”, Nabil wrote.
