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                      Clashes Continue at Kandahar Airport

   by Ayaz Gul

   An overnight Taliban assault on a key airport in southern Afghanistan
   has killed and wounded security forces as well as civilians but their
   exact number is not known because clashes continued into
   late Wednesday morning, say Afghan and insurgent officials.

   A group of at least ten heavily armed suicide bombers wearing uniforms
   of Afghan security forces Tuesday night stormed the airfield in
   Kandahar, where there is also a military base that includes troops in
   NATO's Resolute Support mission.

   Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says its fighters entered the base
   and attacked both local and foreign military personnel there. He
   claimed the assault left 150 soldiers dead but the Islamist insurgency
   usually exaggerates casualty claims.

   A NATO spokesman say there are no reports of casualties among its
   forces, without giving further details.

   The Taliban also released a photo of what it says are the ten men in
   military uniforms it sent to attack the Kandahar airport.

   Afghan military officials say the insurgents began the assault from an
   area where residential buildings are located.

   ''

   `Siege' continues at Afghan base

   Regional Corps commander General Daud Shah Wafadar, told VOA shortly
   after the attack that it started while he was going home from work.

   "I escaped unhurt but a bodyguard was killed while another was
   wounded," he said.

   Security forces swiftly engaged the assailants and killed four of them
   while the rest took up position in the nearby school, the general said.

   General Wafadar told VOA on Wednesday that the siege was continuing and
   security forces killed nine attackers while another five were still
   holed-up in the facility. He said the 18 people killed and 11 wounded
   included women and children. The general gave no other details and it
   is not clear whether the 18 dead included the militants.

   The attack underscored the ability of the Islamist insurgency to
   undertake high-profile attacks at will. Taliban attacks have
   intensified and expanded in Afghanistan this year in the absence of
   direct support from international combat troops who pulled out from the
   country last year.

   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.'

   '''Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, co-chairing the conference
   with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, condemned the attack on Kandahar
   airport.

   "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," Sharif's office quoted him as saying.

   On the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, Sharif
   and Ghani also held a bilateral meeting on Wednesday to discuss ways to
   end violence in Afghanistan and start peace talks between Kabul and the
   Taliban.

   Afghan officials accuse Pakistan's military of secretly helping the
   Taliban, charges Islamabad denies.

   At the conference Larry Sampler of the U.S. State Department read out a
   statement by U.S. deputy secretary of State Antoney Blinken that
   reiterated the search for a peaceful settlement through reconciliation
   talks in Afghanistan is of paramount importance in the wake of new
   emerging threats like the Islamic State in the country.

   "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," said
   Sampler, quoting Blinken.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/clashes-continue-at-kandahar-airport/3094742.html