Taliban storm airport complex, military base in Kandahar

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.

Simultaneously, Taliban forces attacked nearby residential blocks housing government employees and the joint Afghan-NATO military base at the airport, Afghan officials said.

There was no immediate information about possible casualties in the attacks, the first major assault after days of fevered speculation that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed last month in an internal firefight.

"Several insurgents managed to breach the first gate of the complex," Samim Khpalwak, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor, told Agence France Presse.

Mohammad Mohsin Sultani, the military spokesman in Kandahar, said the exact number of attackers was unclear and Afghan troops were engaged in a heavy gunfight with them.

The Taliban-claimed attack comes a day before Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was due to visit Islamabad, Pakistan, for the Heart of Asia regional conference.

Ghani's willingness to visit Pakistan for the conference, a longtime regional nemesis, has signaled a renewed push to jumpstart beleaguered peace talks with the Taliban.

Pakistan wields considerable influence over the Taliban movement, and its security services have previously supported elements of the group and given its leaders safe haven in Pakistan.

Pakistan hosted a milestone first round of peace negotiations in July, but the talks soon stalled when the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of their longtime leader Mullah Omar.

Tuesday's raid comes after days of frantic conjecture about the fate of Omar’s replacement, Mansour, following reports that he was critically wounded in a shootout with his own commanders in Pakistan.

The Taliban, which saw its first formal split last month, had appeared anxious to quell speculation about Mansour's death, which could intensify the power struggle within the movement. Mansour was declared Taliban leader on July 31 after insurgents confirmed the death of Omar, who led the movement for about two decades.

But splits immediately emerged in the group, with some top leaders refusing to pledge allegiance to Mansour, saying the process to select him was rushed and biased. 

The Taliban released an audio message Saturday purportedly from Mansour, vehemently rejecting reports of any shootout as "enemy propaganda."

Ghani also said Monday that there was no evidence to prove that Mansour is dead but multiple Taliban sources have cast doubt on the authenticity of the audio message.

But Ghani's remarks were at odds with those of a government spokesman, who sparked a flurry of reactions when he tweeted on Friday that Mansour was dead.

Meanwhile, more than 50 people were killed and dozens more wounded in renewed fighting between rival Taliban factions in Shindand district near the western Afghan city of Herat, a local police spokesman said Tuesday.

Wire services