Major battle continues at southern Afghan air field

The attack against Kandahar Airfield (KAF), about 30 kilometers south of Kandahar city, began shortly after sundown on December 8 with fighting continuing into the early morning hours of December 9.

It claimed the assailants reported via telephone that some 80 Afghan and foreign forces had been killed and 13 armoured carriers destroyed.

While Dawood Shah Wafadar – a military commander in Kandahar – gave a higher death toll of 18.

The site in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second biggest city, contains both a civilian airport and a large military base that houses thousands of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military personnel and civilian contractors in addition to Afghan forces.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousof Ahmadi denied the reports of the infighting, saying instead that the Taliban are fighting local police forces in Shindand district in Herat province. It said one attacker was still battling security forces.

The latest violence in one of the Taliban heartlands comes as Afghanistan’s near and far neighbors gathered in Pakistan to reiterated resolve to enhance security and economic cooperation with the war-ravaged Afghan nation.

The Taliban on Tuesday published photos online of combatants it said were involved in the airport assault. At least six militants armed with suicide jackets, rocket launchers and guns took control of a school near the civilian part of the Kandahar International Airport.

The group said its fighters were reporting on their progress by telephone and still fighting Afghan and US forces early Wednesday.

The Taliban appear to be ramping up attacks on government and foreign targets despite the onset of the harsh winter season, when the fighting usually winds down.

The school building attacked during the assault is close to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base and the residential barracks of Afghan forces, Ekhpelwak said.

The incident coincides Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Pakistan for a regional conference attended by Pakistan, India and the United States where they are expected to discuss peace talks with the Taliban.

Kandahar’s military spokesman Mohammad Mohsin Sultani said the exact number of attackers was unclear.

Raziq Shirzai, the Afghan air force commander in the southern region, told the BBC that there were some civilians among the dead and wounded. The claim could not be verified, and the Taliban often exaggerate battlefield victories.

The Taliban has seen a resurgence in recent months, opening new battlefronts across the country with Afghan forces struggling to rein in the expanding insurgency.

On Monday night, two militants were killed and five security personnel wounded after Taliban attacked a police station in Kandahar city.