Afghan security forces were fighting Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday, a day after the insurgents raided the city's sprawling airport, killing at least 18 people and taking six people hostage, Reuters quoted an official. There was some uncertainty over the exact casualty figures with security forces hunting as many as five insurgents who had survived hours of fighting. "The operation is going very slowly as the Taliban have taken six people hostage including two women and two children, so we have to act cautiously," said Dawood Shah Wafadar, commander of the 205 Atal army corps in southern Afghanistan. He said at least 18 members of the security forces and civilians had been killed and 11 wounded, including two women. Nine Taliban had been killed out of a 14-strong assault force. Taliban said in a statement 150 soldiers had been killed but the movement has often made exaggerated casualty claims in the past. A spokesman for NATO's Resolute Support mission said there had been no reports of casualties among the hundreds of international personnel at the air base but he had no other details. -- SPA 11:45 LOCAL TIME 08:45 GMT تغريد
