Thursday, December 10, 2015: The 24-hour siege at the Kandahar Military Airport ended after the last militant was killed late on Wednesday. A total of 11 insurgents attacked the heavily fortified military establishment instigating a wave of terror across the region. 38 civilians, 10 soldiers and 2 police officers ceased to death in the terrorist attack.
11 Taliban militants attacked Kandahar Airport, one of the largest military establishment that also accommodates international military contractors at the site on Tuesday evening and continued the insurgency for 24 hours until the last of them was shot down by the security forces.
The regional Corps Commander General Daud Shah Wafadar was on his way out of the base when the attack started. The militants targeted the general’s convoy, however, he managed to dodge the atrocity by a hair’s breadth.
“I escaped unhurt, but a bodyguard was killed while another was wounded,” General Wafadar said.
Four of the insurgents were killed soon after the attack commenced. The rest of them took positions in a school nearby and continued the violence. The operation against the terrorists was conducted on a slow pace to avoid civilian casualty on a base that is usually heavily crowded.
No one of the international contractors residing at the base was injured or killed. However, 61 civilians and security forces officials were wounded in addition to the 50 deceased in the attack.
The attack coincided with the peace talks underway in Pakistan between the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani along with dignitaries from neighboring countries in the region. President Ghani visits Pakistan to request the government for assistance in initiating peace talk process with the Taliban that fell through earlier this year.
President Ghani’s request comes in direct conflict with Afghan government’s official stance that alleges Pakistan for assisting the Taliban across the border, a blame Pakistan strongly rejects.
Pakistan Prime Minister Sharif strongly condemned the attack on Kandahar Airport and assured President Ghani for all possible assistance in the process. Pakistani government has conducted a large scale military operation against the insurgents in the tribal areas for the last two years.
“The prime minister paid rich tributes to the Afghan government for its efforts of eliminating terrorism… terrorism is the common enemy of both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
US State Department was also represented In the meeting with the dignitaries, co-presided by Prime Minister Sharif and President Ghani. Larry Sampler of the US SD read the statement from U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“It is the surest way of achieving an end to the conflict and the full drawdown of U.S. and foreign troops in Afghanistan. No real victories can be won and sustained when Afghans are fighting Afghans.”
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