Damage from Pakistani airstrikes in southern Afghanistan late Thursday has been estimated at about $600,000 after a fuel depot in Kandahar province was destroyed, Taliban local officials said.
The strikes, which targeted Daman district, set fire to a fuel storage facility believed to belong to the private airline Kam Air, Taliban officials have confirmed.
Sources meanwhile said the depot was completely destroyed in the attack and that two civilians were wounded.
Shafiullah, the Taliban deputy director of Kandahar Airport, said the loss of the facility could disrupt some UN and civilian flights that rely on fuel supplies from the depot.
“This attack has caused serious damage,” said Shafiullah. “It will be very harmful for United Nations flights and civilian aviation because this was a fuel depot that was targeted.”
He said the facility had supplied fuel to some United Nations aircraft operating in the region.
Kam Air also used the depot to support domestic flights and charter services transporting pilgrims.
Kandahar residents meanwhile called for an end to the fighting between Taliban and Pakistan, saying civilians are increasingly affected by the escalating conflict.
“We want this war to stop,” said Bari Dad, a resident of Kandahar. “People should be able to live peacefully in their homes.”
The airstrikes are part of intensifying Taliban-Pakistan clashes, which have escalated in recent weeks along the border. Pakistan says the Taliban are sheltering TTP militants. Taliban have denied the allegations but a UN monitoring group has reported that TTP has around 6,000 fighters in Afghanistan.
