Insurgents firing rockets, mortars and automatic weapons launched a ground assault on Saturday against Nato’s biggest base in southern Afghanistan, wounding several coalition troops and civilian employees in the third such attack on a major military installation this week, officials said.
A Canadian Press news agency report from the Kandahar Air Field said artillery and machine gun fire reverberated through the base, about 500 kilometres southwest of Kabul, several hours after the attack began. Militants unleashed rockets and mortars about 8 pm and then tried unsuccessfully to storm the northern perimeter, officials said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but the Kandahar area is a Taliban stronghold. On Tuesday, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a Nato convoy in the capital, killing 18 people, including six Nato service members, five Americans and a Canadian. The next day, dozens of Taliban militants attacked the main US military base — Bagram Air Field — killing an American contractor in fighting that lasted more than eight hours.
Navy Cmdr. Amanda Peterseim, a spokeswoman for Nato forces at Kandahar, said at least five rockets struck the base in the initial attack, but witnesses said explosions continued through much of the night. There were no reports of deaths and she did not have the precise number of wounded. “The alarm has been sounding for several hours, but no insurgents have penetrated the base perimeter,” Nato said. It said “a number” of military and civilian personnel were wounded “and are receiving medical treatment. There are no confirmed fatalities.”
Nato said troops and civilians were told to remain in bunkers as a precaution. Ms Peterseim did not know how many insurgents launched the attack but said they did not appear to be wearing suicide vests. —AP