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Kabul airport under rocket attack
Insurgents carrying out bombardment from neighbouring buildings, says Afghan military, with Isaf jets targeted
Insurgents used rockets to attack Kabul international airport on Thursday, a senior Afghan military official said.
The gunmen occupied two buildings, which were under construction, 700 metres north of the airport and were using them as a base to fire rockets and guns towards the airport and jet fighters from the Nato-led Isaf force flying over Kabul, said General Afzal Aman.
Aman said several rockets hit the airport and two attackers were killed by Afghan forces.
Aman said the fighting was going on and that the gunmen had been surrounded by Afghan forces. Alarms sounded at the US embassy in Kabul, as they usually do when there is an attack in the city. Isaf jet fighters were patrolling overhead.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says the gunmen who captured the building were surrounded by police.
Besides civilian traffic the airport is used as a base for Nato-led forces that have been fighting for more than a decade against Taliban and others. Rocket attacks near the airport are not rare, but are not usually this close.
On Tuesday a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near a busy market and a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 89 people in the deadliest insurgent attack on civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion.
The pre-dawn attack on the airport adds to tensions as a recount takes place of votes in the second round of the disputed presidential election
Kabul airport under rocket attack
Insurgents carrying out bombardment from neighbouring buildings, says Afghan military, with Isaf jets targeted
- Associated Press in Kabul
- theguardian.com, Thursday 17 July 2014 04.16 BST
Insurgents used rockets to attack Kabul international airport on Thursday, a senior Afghan military official said.
The gunmen occupied two buildings, which were under construction, 700 metres north of the airport and were using them as a base to fire rockets and guns towards the airport and jet fighters from the Nato-led Isaf force flying over Kabul, said General Afzal Aman.
Aman said several rockets hit the airport and two attackers were killed by Afghan forces.
Aman said the fighting was going on and that the gunmen had been surrounded by Afghan forces. Alarms sounded at the US embassy in Kabul, as they usually do when there is an attack in the city. Isaf jet fighters were patrolling overhead.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi says the gunmen who captured the building were surrounded by police.
Besides civilian traffic the airport is used as a base for Nato-led forces that have been fighting for more than a decade against Taliban and others. Rocket attacks near the airport are not rare, but are not usually this close.
On Tuesday a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives near a busy market and a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 89 people in the deadliest insurgent attack on civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion.
The pre-dawn attack on the airport adds to tensions as a recount takes place of votes in the second round of the disputed presidential election
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