Afghans killed in Taliban siege

An Afghan security man stands guard at police station after clashes between the Afghan police and Taliban militants at a police station in the city of Kandahar, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015.

At least 37 people have been killed after Taliban insurgents wearing military uniforms stormed Kandahar airport, triggering pitched gun battles in a lengthy siege as President Ashraf Ghani sought to revive peace talks at a regional conference.

The attack will likely renew concerns about the capabilities of the Afghan security forces, who have been stretched by a stubborn insurgency since the global military coalition withdrew most of its troops and turned over responsibility for the country’s security to Afghan forces at the end of previous year.

As Afghan president Ashraf Ghani headed to a peace summit, Taliban insurgents were using the cover of darkness to mount an attack on the airfield at Kandahar, in his country’s south.

Security forces swiftly engaged the assailants and killed four of them while the rest of the militants took up position in the nearby school, the general said.

Taliban gunmen opened fire at a bazaar near the Kandahar airport at 6:20 p.m. local time (8:50 a.m. ET) Tuesday, said Samim Ekhpelwak, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province.

A number of hostages were seized by the insurgents in the 26-hour attack before Afghan forces finally regained control.

The report notes that one Afghan soldier was killed and three others wounded, adding that all the Taliban attackers were reportedly killed.

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.

A Taliban attack on a key Afghan military airfield has left dozens dead and cast a shadow over Afghanistan’s security and its relationship with neighbouring Pakistan.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military personnel, civilian contractors and Afghan forces are based there.

“Fifty of our innocent countrymen, including 10 soldiers, two policemen and 38 civilians, were martyred in the attack”, the Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Militant violence has increased across Afghanistan since the departure of most North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and United States forces past year.

They briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but insecurity still remains in some provinces.

And Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan stressed his commitment to “an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process”, a reference to the talks hosted by Islamabad.