Afghanistan: Three Rockets Hit Kandahar Airport

Afghan officials said on Sunday that three rockets struck Kandahar Airport during the night, amid ongoing battles between Taliban fighters and Afghan forces in the surrounding area for several weeks. According to AFP, Kandahar Airport Chief Masoud Pashton stated, "Three rockets were launched last night at the airport, two of which hit the runway. As a result, all flights to and from the airport have been canceled." A civil aviation official in Kabul confirmed the remarks made by the airport chief. The Taliban claimed that its militants carried out a rocket attack on Kandahar Airport to halt enemy airstrikes, according to Reuters. Afghan government officials reported, "Rockets hit an Afghan airport in Kandahar, and air traffic has been suspended." The Taliban has been conducting a wide-ranging offensive in Afghanistan for three months, coinciding with the final withdrawal of foreign troops from this war-torn country, which is nearing completion, as AFP reported. Taliban fighters, who control vast areas of rural regions, are threatening the capitals of several provinces. The Taliban has approached Kandahar and Herat, the largest city in western Afghanistan and the third-largest by population, with approximately 600,000 residents, in addition to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The fall of Kandahar, which the Taliban made the center of its regime when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, is considered catastrophic for the Afghan authorities, according to AFP.