NATO Airfield Attacked
On Wednesday morning, Taliban insurgents launched a series of failed attacks on the NATO air base in the eastern city of Jalalabad, just along the Afghanistan and Pakistan border. Jalalabad airfield is one of the largest bases in Afghanistan, regularly coming under rocket attacks. However, today's ground assault is arguably the largest attack in some time.
Using a suicide car bomb and rocket-propelled grenades, eight Taliban insurgents were unsuccessful in their attempt to breach the gate and infiltrate the base's perimeters. A half-hour gun battle followed the Taliban's attempted breach.
In May, similar attacks were carried out at the Bagram and Kandahar airfields, the two largest bases in Afghanistan, and were also repelled easily. In all attacks, a couple of the NATO soldiers suffered minor wounds, but left a handful of Taliban insurgents dead.
Notably, this comes a day after US General David Petraeus warned that a "tough fight" against the Taliban is expected to take place in the coming months. Patraeus, who replaced General Stanley McChrystal last week, is due to visit the region over the coming weekend.