ISAF Closes Western Afghan Airport After Missile Attack

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Ariana TV on 12 September

[Presenter] Following missile attacks on Herat airport, ISAF has banned military and domestic flights at the airport. A provincial police official says the missile attacks have not caused any damage to the airport. Here is a report on this from Herat:

[Reporter] This is the seventh missile attack on Herat airport this year. The ISAF base is also located at the airport and in addition to domestic flights, there are routine military and UN flights at this airport. Provincial officials have said none of these missile attacks could cause any human or property loss. However, residents of Herat are worried about the increase in these attacks.

In the early hours of Friday [12 September] at least three missiles landed in the vicinity of the runway and this resulted in the closure of the airport to domestic and military flights. The incident happened a few weeks after the runway and some other parts of the airport were renovated by ISAF.

Speaking to Ariana TV in Herat Province, Abdurrauf Ahmadi, the spokesman for Zonal Police Command in the western region says the attack was launched from Gozara District of Herat Province but did not cause any human or property loss. According to him, the airport was closed by ISAF to all types of flights. Meanwhile, the Al- Mansur group, which calls itself an anti-government group in Herat Province, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that a tank belonging to foreign forces and part of the runway were damaged in the attacks.

Some experts and residents of Herat criticized the Afghan and foreign forces for taking no action to prevent such attacks on the airport.

Originally published by Ariana TV, Kabul, in Dari 1530 12 Sep 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.