Militants Attack Kabul Airport | WPN World People News

An attack by Taliban insurgents on Afghanistan's Kabul international airport has apparently ended more than four hours after it began.

News reports from Kabul quote Afghan security officials as saying they are in control of the facility and that all the insurgents involved were killed.

Resident Jahangar Khan said the attack started with a rocket firing from unoccupied buildings toward the airport, and then the Afghan forces began firing back. He said a car on the street caught fire and exploded.

"The attack started with rocket firing from these buildings towards the airport. Then foreign and Afghan forces started firing from their towers, also a car on the road caught fire and exploded. It seems that there are fighters and they are positioned in the first block. As you hear, fighting is going on," said Khan.

Kabul police chief Mohammad Zahir said the airport was undamaged, and one police officer suffered minor injuries.

"So far there are no casualties among police forces. With the help of God, only one person has been slightly wounded," said Zahir.

Police say the airport is undamaged. Planes have been diverted to other airports.

NATO has a major operational base at the airport for the International Security Assistance Force fighting militants in Afghanistan. NATO officials say they are aware of the violence but can provide no details.

This is the second major incident of violence reported this week in Afghanistan. On Tuesday, a car bomb detonated in a busy marketplace in the eastern province of Paktika, killing 43 people.

The violence coincides with the start of an audit of ballot papers from last month's recount of the contested presidential election. The audit is expected to take several weeks.

Source: Voice of America