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Several rockets hit Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport amid ongoing Taliban assault Several rockets hit Afghanistan’s Kandahar airport amid ongoing Taliban assault
(32 minutes later)
The international airport in Kandahar has come under rocket attack, forcing the cancelation of all flights. Fighting has intensified on the outskirts of the city, the Taliban seeking to recapture its former stronghold. An airport in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city, has come under rocket attack, forcing the cancelation of all flights, as the Taliban seeks to recapture its former stronghold.
At least three rockets were launched towards Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport on Sunday, with two of the projectiles hitting the runaway, airport chief Massoud Pashtun said, as cited by the news agency AFP.
The reported strike resulted in damage to the runaway, bringing the airport’s operations to a halt. Both outbound and inbound flights were canceled, but are expected to resume later in the day, the official said.
The attack comes as the Taliban has ramped up its offensive on the capital of the southern Kandahar province, considered the birthplace of the Islamist movement. The group has been going through a resurgence, having gained swaths of territory after US troops left Bagram Air Base, its main airfield in the country, in early July. At least three rockets were launched towards Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport on Sunday, with two of the projectiles hitting the runway, airport chief Massoud Pashtun said, as quoted by the news agency AFP.
Apart from being Afghanistan’s second main international airport, Kandahar’s also serves as one of the largest air bases, being used by the Afghan security forces, and previously by those of both NATO and the US. American troops left Kandahar Airfield three months ago as part of the current drawdown, which is set to end with a complete withdrawal by the September 11 deadline. All flights have been canceled, but are expected to resume later in the day, as the runway is being repaired, the official said.
A Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters the airport was targeted because it was being used to conduct airstrikes against the militants.
The attack comes as the Taliban launched offensives against Kandahar, the capital of the eponymous southern province, as well as against two other provincial capitals, Herat in the West and Lashkar Gah in the south.
On Friday, Afghanistan’s TOLOnews cited sources saying that flights had been canceled at Herat’s airport, and that two security guards at the city’s UN office had been killed during fierce fighting between the militants and government forces. 
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