Killed in attack at Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport

Afghan security forces stand in front of the dead bodies of Taliban fighters after clashes in Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 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.

“Fifty of our innocent countrymen, including 10 soldiers, two policemen and 38 civilians, were martyred in the attack”, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The attack continued late into Wednesday night, until one gunman who had held out on his own for several hours was killed.

Afghanistan has long accused its neighbour of providing safe haven to Taliban insurgents, who have been mounting an increasing number of attacks since most foreign forces left Afghanistan a year ago.

The attack on the sprawling complex, which also houses a joint NATO-Afghan base, is the second major Taliban assault in the space of 24 hours in the city recognised as the birthplace of the Taliban.

In addition, nine Taliban were killed and another wounded with a final survivor still resisting security forces, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the effort to repel the attack had proceeded slowly to minimise casualties. This border region was one of the fiercest combat zones during the war in Afghanistan and was the location of the key battle of Tora Bora, during which Osama bin Laden himself allegedly narrowly escaped capture.

Both Afghan government forces and Taliban militants, according to local analysts, have been trying their best to take more grounds and strengthen their positions ahead of snowfall in the mountainous central Asian country.

“Civilian people are trapped”, and some “are highly panicked”, said Haji Agha Lalai, a member of Kandahar’s provincial council.

Further, UNAMA reiterated that global humanitarian law, which applies to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, prohibits attacks against civilians at any time and in any place, which additionally includes families of Afghan security forces and other civilians not participating in the conduct of hostilities.

The Taliban asserted responsibility for the attack.

It was the latest in a series of audacious raids by Taliban fighters.

Afghan, U.S., Pakistani and Chinese officials discussed resumption of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban on the sidelines of the conference.

“Violence is not the way in a democratic society”, the Afghan leader said on opening the Heart of Asia conference with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.