Zee Media Bureau
Kabul: At least seven Taliban militants were killed with Kabul police after they launched an attack on Kabul airport on Monday and laid siege on a building near the airport.
The gunmen were killed in exchange of gunfire with the police in the under construction building, as per reports.
Heavily armed insurgents were engaged in an hours-long gun-battle with security forces on the perimeter of Afghanistan`s main airport today after they tried to attack NATO`s airport headquarters with rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and at least one large bomb, the Army and police said.
The airport was closed to all civilian air traffic because of the attack, an airport official said. It was unclear if the attack had damaged facilities inside the airport itself.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack saying the insurgents were targeting NATO.
Kabul police said in an announcement that attackers wearing suicide vests had occupied two buildings under construction on the west side of the airport and were firing at the military facility, which was quite a distance away. But it was uncertain if they actually managed to hit anything inside the airport.
A statement said there was at least one large explosion at around 4:30 am (local time) and a gunbattle began with security forces.
"It first started with a big explosion which we think was a suicide attack. After that a gunbattle started," said Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai.
He added that at least five insurgents then occupied two buildings, located in a single compound, and started firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.
(With PTI Inputs)
