Jigs
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2009
- Messages
- 3,735
- Reaction score
- 0
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Agence France-Presse
A Taliban suicide squad armed with bombs and rockets attacked the largest U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sparking an hour-long gun battle, officials said.
One foreign soldier and two civilians were wounded in an initial rocket attack on Kandahar airfield.
Two suicide bombers then detonated explosives strapped to their bodies outside the base perimeter, aiming to clear the entrance for the rest of the group to breach the wire, Zalmai Ayobi, Kandahar provincial spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
"Two of them blew themselves up and the other four were killed in the subsequent firefight," he said.
Ayobi said the militants failed to enter the base. The NATO press office in Kabul confirmed a "failed attack."
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack.
The base was locked-down following the attack and many civilian workers were sent home as six helicopters flew low overhead.
Kandahar Airfield is the main base in the area for troops fighting the insurgency, which is concentrated in the southern province of Kandahar. It houses tens of thousands of personnel.
It sits on the edge of Kandahar city, the provincial capital, where the Taliban is digging in as increasing numbers of U.S., NATO and Afghan troops try to squeeze the militants out of their spiritual home.
The base has come under attack many times but the militants have failed to get inside the heavily fortified military compound.
The last major attack on the base was in May when a rocket and ground attack left several people on the base injured.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Agence France-Presse
A Taliban suicide squad armed with bombs and rockets attacked the largest U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, sparking an hour-long gun battle, officials said.
One foreign soldier and two civilians were wounded in an initial rocket attack on Kandahar airfield.
Two suicide bombers then detonated explosives strapped to their bodies outside the base perimeter, aiming to clear the entrance for the rest of the group to breach the wire, Zalmai Ayobi, Kandahar provincial spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
"Two of them blew themselves up and the other four were killed in the subsequent firefight," he said.
Ayobi said the militants failed to enter the base. The NATO press office in Kabul confirmed a "failed attack."
Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the attack.
The base was locked-down following the attack and many civilian workers were sent home as six helicopters flew low overhead.
Kandahar Airfield is the main base in the area for troops fighting the insurgency, which is concentrated in the southern province of Kandahar. It houses tens of thousands of personnel.
It sits on the edge of Kandahar city, the provincial capital, where the Taliban is digging in as increasing numbers of U.S., NATO and Afghan troops try to squeeze the militants out of their spiritual home.
The base has come under attack many times but the militants have failed to get inside the heavily fortified military compound.
The last major attack on the base was in May when a rocket and ground attack left several people on the base injured.
