Gunmen used rockets to attack Kabul International Airport in the Afghan capital on Thursday, accordi

(17 Jul 2014) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2013419

Gunmen used rockets to attack Kabul International Airport in the Afghan capital on Thursday, according to a senior military official.
The gunmen occupied two buildings, which were under construction, 765 yards north of the airport.
They then used them as a base to fire rockets and gunfire toward the airport and ISAF jet fighters flying over Kabul, said Afzal Aman, a general in the Afghan army in Kabul.
The predawn attack comes during a tense time in Afghanistan as a recount is underway from the second round of a disputed presidential election.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a call to The Associated Press, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Aman said several rockets hit the airport but no planes had been damaged so far.
He said two attackers had been killed by Afghan forces.
Besides civilian traffic, the airport is used as a base for NATO-led forces that have been fighting for more than a decade against the Taliban and others.
Rocket attacks near the airport are not rare, but are not usually this close.
Kabul police chief, General Mohammad Zahir Zahir said police had surrounded the gunmen who captured the building.

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