Kabul Airport attack: Narrow escape for 180 SpiceJet passengers

Nearly 180 passengers and crew on board a Delhi-bound SpiceJet plane from Kabul had a narrow escape today when the Taliban launched a rocket attack on the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital.

The rocket attack started at around 1.15am with eyewitnesses saying as many as 20-30 were fired at airport.

However, Najib Danish, the acting spokesman for Interior Ministry, said that the rockets left no casualties. According to Afghan media, flights have been cancelled and airport is being evacuated.

Meanwhile, at a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defence James Mattis and President Ashraf Ghani, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday's attack on Kabul airport was a sign of weakness on the part of the Taliban.

Meanwhile, two more explosions reported in vicinity of airport in Kabul city following earlier rocket attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said the target had been Mattis.

Mattis is the first member of the US president's cabinet to visit Afghanistan since the strategy announcement to keep American boots on the ground there indefinitely.

The unannounced high-level visit comes as Afghan security forces struggle to beat back the Taliban which has been on the offensive since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014.

OneIndia News