The Taliban insurgents have launched attack into Kandahar airport little ago and gunbattle with security forces are under way.
Several fighters of the terror group have taken up positions inside a nearby school and are firing at the airport complex. The Afghan forces are returning fire.
According to spokesman for the local governor, Sameem Khpalwak, until now no casualties have been reported.
A Taliban spokesperson, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said several suicide attackers have entered the Kandahar airport and are fighting the Afghani security forces.
An Afghan army official said their homes have been targeted too and residents have been urged to remain inside and take cover to help the Afghan or US-NATO forces not to mistake them for Taliban forces.
Meanwhile, the Kandahar provincial governor’s spokesman has officially confirmed about the attack and said there are three or more attackers at the complex.
A spokesman for the provincial governor added the first gate of the airport complex has been breached by the attackers.
A pro-Taliban website writes the insurgents have launched an attack against the domestic and foreign forces at the Kandahar airport.
Such attacks are on rise across Afghanistan after the announcement of US to be calling away most of its as well as NATO forces from the country.
In recent months the terror group has enjoyed several battlefield victories including taking control of the northern city of Kunduz once again.
Who are the Talibans
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in early 1990s the Taliban emerged in the northern part of Pakistan. It was initially a Pashtun movement and in 1984 they came to prominence in Afghanistan.
The promise of Talibans was to bring peace and security once they come in power and also to enforce their own austere version of Sharia law, also called as Islamic law.
The Talibans were in power from mid-1990s until 2001. In their controlled area, they introduced Islamic punishments and implemented their own rules such as girls aged ten and above were not allowed to attend schools, total ban of music and cinema including television, and men were required to grow beards.
Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the world recognized the Taliban when they were in power. Though Pakistan has now adopted a harder line against the insurgents, but it was the last country to break ties with them.
The greatest loss for the Talibans were in November 2013 when its leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed by a drone strike.
World Trade Center
The world focused more on the Talibans after the attacks on World Trade Center in September 2001.
After the WTC attacks the US-led coalition military invaded Afghanistan and within three months the Talibans were driven out of power in. However, its leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was not captured.
In recent years they have emerged again and have grown stronger in Pakistan.
Currently the US has kept 10,000 of its forces in Afghanistan.
