3 Taliban men firing rockets at Kabul airport killed

KABUL (Pajhwok): Three Taliban were killed by security forces on Wednesday evening, bringing to an end the shelling that followed US Defense Secretary’s visit.

One civilian was killed and 11 others wounded in a result of the rocket attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport, the Ministry of Interior said.

The attack started at around 11am, when two rockets were fired at the airport soon after US Defense Secretary and NATO chief arrived in Kabul.

Acting MoI spokesman, Najibullah Danish, told Pajhwok Afghan News one of the rockets hit a house near the airport, killing one person of a family and wounding 11 others.

The injured civilians were rushed to hospital and their health condition was said to be stable, said Danish, adding the attack was brought to an end at 6pm, when all the three assailants were killed.

The attackers were firing rockets from a house in Yakatot area in the jurisdiction of the 9th police district. He said flights at the airport weren’t interrupted and they operated as scheduled.

Eyewitnesses in a telephonic contact with Pajhwok said two rockets fell near the airport and another two hit Baron Campus located near Meteorology Department in the vicinity of the airport.

The airport came under attack about an hour after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg arrived in Kabul for talks with the Afghan leadership.

In a joint press conference with President Ashraf Ghani and Jim Mattis, Stoltenberg said they knew the cost of staying in Afghanistan but leaving would have a higher cost.

The US Embassy in Kabul condemned what it called “cowardly attack” on Kabul’s Airport. “Terrorist attacks such as this do not diminish our and our partners’ resolve to stand with the people of Afghanistan in their quest for a more prosperous, stable, and secure future,” the embassy said in a statement.

sns/ma