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[h=4]Dozens are killed in a Taliban attack on an Afghan airport[/h]At least 19 people died after the Taliban attacked an airport in the southern city of Kandahar, according to media reports Wednesday.
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Officials said on Wednesday at least 37 civilians and members of Afghan security forces have been killed and 35 wounded in Kandahar after an overnight attack by Taliban militants on the city airport. USA TODAY
Civilians wait as Afghan security forces guard at the main gate of Kandahar civilian airport during a clash between Taliban fighters and Afghan forces, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015.(Photo: AP)
Taliban militants killed dozens of civilians in a failed attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a major military base in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, after<span style="color: Red;">*</span>coalition and Afghan security forces prevented the militants from getting on the facility, the coalition command said.
The militants launched an attack<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at a marketplace just outside the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kandahar Airfield and a small number of attackers escaped into a residential area, where<span style="color: Red;">*</span>they seized hostages after failing to get on to the base. Fighting there continued Wednesday.
No coalition forces were killed or injured in the attack and the militants never made it into the airfield, said Col. Michael Lawhorn, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.
“Coalition Forces on (Kandahar Airfield) conducted force protection measures to ensure all service members and civilians on (the airfield) remained safe," he said.
The airfield is a major coalition and Afghan outpost in southern Afghanistan in a region that was once a Taliban stronghold.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>About 2,000 coalition<span style="color: Red;">*</span>troops are at the base, along with 5,000 coalition civilian contractors.
U.S. aircraft flew overhead but did not attack targets on the ground, the coalition said.
Less than 10,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, where they are mainly<span style="color: Red;">*</span>advising and supporting Afghan security forces and providing a counter-terrorism mission to directly target al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
Taliban militants have surfaced in pockets of Afghanistan as U.S. and coalition forces have reduced their presence in the country.In September, the militants briefly seized the town of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. It was recaptured by Afghan forces backed by coalition aircraft.
Wednesday's attack started when about a dozen insurgents armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked the southern entrance to the airfield, firing on the base from a nearby school, according to the coalition headquarters.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Most of the attackers were killed in the fighting.
Fighting shifted to the residential area, where the insurgents grabbed an undetermined number of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>hostages.
The militant attack on the marketplace killed at least 30 people, according to media reports. Afghan security forces also suffered an unknown number of casualties.
Samim Khpalwak, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, told the AFP that the Taliban targeted the homes of government employees and the joint Afghan-NATO military base on the airport complex.
An Afghan National Army commander said 14 insurgents attacked the complex Tuesday evening wearing security forces' uniforms, Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews reported.
The Taliban said it carried out the attack and was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>holding hostages, the BBC reported. Citing the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Afghan defense ministry, the BBC said 37 civilians and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>security personnel<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and nine insurgents were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>killed, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>35 people were wounded.
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