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Afghan Taliban fighters attack Kandahar airport | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
At least nine people have been killed in heavy fighting at the airport in the Afghan city of Kandahar, reports say. | |
The Taliban said it carried out the attack at the heavily fortified airport on Tuesday evening. | |
A spokesman for the provincial governor said the attackers had managed to breach the first gate of the complex in the southern city, which has long been a Taliban stronghold. | |
The airport compound houses the joint Nato and Afghan military headquarters. | |
"Several insurgents" had carried out the attack, the provincial governor's spokesman Samim Khopalwaq told AFP. | "Several insurgents" had carried out the attack, the provincial governor's spokesman Samim Khopalwaq told AFP. |
He said the militants had taken up positions inside a school in the complex. | |
Officials said the attackers had met heavy resistance from troops inside, with local authorities reportedly deploying commandos to the area. | |
Kandahar airport director Ahmadullah Faizi told AFP some passengers had been trapped inside the airport while the fighting was ongoing. | |
Both soldiers and civilians are believed to be among the dead. It was unclear whether the militants had been killed. | |
The fighting was reported to be over by late on Tuesday. | |
Militant violence has increased across Afghanistan since the departure of most Nato and US forces last year. | |
In recent months the Taliban has enjoyed a series of battlefield victories, including briefly capturing the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. |