Taliban attack US base in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY (PAN) office in southern Kandahar on Thursday, killing at least one civilian and injuring a policeman, a doctor said.

The American PRT office in the Shirkat Miwa area of the 10^th police district came under gunfire at 2.30pm from fighters holed up in a house, witness Basir told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A doctor at the Mirwais Civil Hospital, seeking anonymity, confirmed receiving the corpse of a civilian killed in the attack. An injured policeman was under treatment, he said.

The Pajhwok reporter, who visited the scene, said sporadic gunfire was heard as of 6pm. Kandahar deputy police chief, Col. Rahmatullah Atrafi, verified the assault but gave no further details.

A Taliban spokesman, meanwhile, said a four-member group of insurgents, laced with suicide vests and rocket-launchers, mounted the attack in the area.

Qari Yousaf Ahmadi claimed nine foreign troops were killed and several others wounded in the armed clash was still ongoing. One of the assailants was killed and the three others were still engaged in a gunbattle with the US soldiers, he added.

A Kandahar-based spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force told a foreign news agency one civilian foreign national and one Afghan soldier had been injured.

Police spokesman Ghorzang said the attack was continuing in the city, where five blasts had been heard. He added the road leading to the civil-military base had been closed.

mud

Visits: 1