Taliban behind southern Afghan NATO attack

Kabul, May 23: Taliban took the responsibility of a night-time assault on NATO's biggest base in southern Afghanistan, on

Saturday, May 22 night. The attackers fired rockets, mortars and automatic weapons and tried to blast Khandahar Air Field.

There were no reports of deaths, though several coalition troops and civilian employees were wounded. It is the third such attack on NATO forces in Afghanistan in six days.

A Canadian Press news agency report from Kandahar said artillery and machine gun fire reverberated through the base, about 500 kilometres southwest of Kabul, several hours after the attack began. Militants unleashed rockets and mortars about 15:30

GMT and then tried unsuccessfully to storm the northern perimeter, reported the officials.

The attacks on NATO follow a Taliban announcement of a spring offensive against NATO forces and Afghan government for their response to a promise by the Obama administration to crush Taliban out of their strongholds in the southern province of Khandahar.

OneIndia News