Kandahar airport death toll jumps to 50 after Taliban attack

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan was non-committal Wednesday about renewing Canada’s $300 million support for Afghan security forces, despite a deadly attack at Kandahar Airfield that left dozens dead.

Taliban militants killed more than 50 people at an airport in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar late Tuesday and Wednesday during an audacious 20-hour assault, just as diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks between the Islamist insurgency and the Afghan government picked up momentum.

The attack comes as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani spoke of the need to defeat terrorism at the “Heart of Asia” conference in Pakistan – a country that Afghanistan has shared a shaky relationship with in regard to terror.

“A group of 11 terrorists attacked a bazaar and a school in the airport complex, took up positions in the area and blew themselves among civilians”.

The Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan earlier said at least ten Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and 2 Afghan National Police (ANP) members were martyred in the attack.

No casualties were reported among the thousands of worldwide military and contractors based at the heavily fortified site.

A almost 24 hour assault took place on the airfield near the southern Afghan city, an installation which houses a military wing, a civilian wing and a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base.

“We have reports of more than 100 people killed and 27 others wounded from both sides”, Herat provincial police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi said.

Afghan and US officials said the insurgents didn’t make it inside the perimeter of the military base, Kandahar Air Field, where roughly 2,000 USA troops are deployed. The Taliban had captured the civilians, who were killed later on, he alleged. Pakistan, which is believed to wield considerable influence over the Taliban, hosted a milestone first round of peace negotiations in July.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told local media that the attack was part of the Taliban’s annual offensive codenamed Hamalyat-e-Azm or Resolute Operation.

The Taliban said in a statement 150 soldiers had been killed but the movement has often made exaggerated casualty claims in the past.

Ghani, who travelled to Islamabad this week for a security summit, insists Pakistan must be on board if the peace process is to succeed, raising protests among those who say their neighbour effectively controls the militants.

Meanwhile the Taliban seized a district in neighbouring Helmand province, killing 14 Afghan security personnel.

The Taliban have stepped up their attacks across the country, including a September battle which saw them capture and hold the northern city of Kunduz for three days.