Summary Eight people were killed after Taliban militants stormed the airport complex in Kandahar.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - Pakistan has strongly condemned the deadly terrorist attack on Kandahar airport that has resulted in the loss of precious lives and injuries to many people.
“We stand by the brotherly people and the Government of Afghanistan in their hour of grief and convey our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families. We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Wednesday.
The FO further said: “Pakistan reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
At least eight people were killed after Taliban militants stormed the airport complex in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar city, triggering an all-night gun battle, officials said Wednesday.
PHOTO: An aerial view of the Kandahar Airport in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
"Eight people, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed," Samim Khpalwak, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, told AFP.
Residents of the complex said they could hear soldiers pleading with the insurgents to free women and children, and the children screaming, during the fighting.
The attack on the sprawling complex, which also houses a joint NATO-Afghan base, is the second major Taliban assault in the space of 24 hours in the city recognised as the birthplace of the Taliban.
The raid coincides with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani‘s high-profile visit to Islamabad on Wednesday for the Heart of Asia conference aimed at promoting regional ties.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid saying on Twitter that "150 Afghan and foreign soldiers" had been killed in the fierce fighting.
The insurgents are regularly known to exaggerate battlefield claims.
