Death toll tops to 50 in Taliban attack in Kandahar airport

The death toll from a 27-hour Taliban siege of Kandahar airport has jumped to 50, Afghan officials said.

Taliban fighters stormed the airport complex in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar Tuesday, triggering gunfights and explosions as a regional conference kicked off in Pakistan with hopes of reviving peace talks with the insurgent group.

Eleven suicide attackers on Tuesday breached the high-security complex, which also houses a joint NATO-Afghan base, taking families hostage and triggering pitched firefights with soldiers.

Witnesses said the militants had taken families hostage, using them as “human shields” and slowing down the military’s clearance operation.

In all, 38 civilians, 10 soldiers and two police officers were killed in the fighting, while 37 security forces and civilians were wounded.

Meanwhile, Kandahar police commander says that the insurgents had acquired armaments from the airport.

Afghan forces have struggled to roll back Taliban advances since the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission at the end of last year.

The sprawling airport, known as Kandahar Air Field, has a military and a civilian section, as well as a NATO base. There were no coalition casualties.