The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the deadly assault, which continued early into Wednesday morning, even after the Afghan National Army forces surrounded the nine attackers armed with machine guns.
Advertisement
The airport in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s 2nd biggest city, has for years of time of time been a serious hub for operations of worldwide forces, most of whom had withdrawn from Afghanistan by the complete of 2014.
Taliban militants have attacked a civilian and military air base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing around 50 people.
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 ministry statement said that a total of 11 insurgents had taken part in the attack.
Also Wednesday, the Taliban attacked Afghan security forces and took control of Khanisheen district in southern Helmand province, according to Karim Atal, the head of provincial council of Helmand province.
Some passengers were also trapped inside the civilian terminal, far from the fighting in the sprawling complex, when their commercial flight to India was suspended, Kandahar airport director Ahmadullah Faizi told AFP.
“We’ll be reviewing all different options when it comes to supporting the fight against terrorism around the world and this will be no different”, the minister said.
In Brussels, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation spokesman for the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said there were no coalition casualties in the Kandahar assault.
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.
“When I first read it, it’s always hard to see an attack like that happen with the loss of life”, said Sajjan.
The insurgents are regularly known to exaggerate battlefield claims.
On Tuesday night, Taliban fighters targeted a residential compound and military bases at the airport, which is used by Afghan, US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military forces.
There were no North Atlantic Treaty Organisation casualties reported.
Advertisement
“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.
