Taliban murders 37 people during attack on Kandahar airport: Nine jihadis killed by Afghan security forces during 24-hour raid 

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Taliban terrorists have killed 37 people and wounded a further 35 during a 24-hour long raid on Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan. 

Nine terrorists were killed by Afghan security forces, although there are reports of one jihadi who is still holding out. 

The assault began on Tuesday when the terrorists seized a school opposite the airport. Attackers also targeted a police station in the city.  

Taliban terrorists have been fighting Afghan security forces in Kandahar for the past 24 hours 

The terrorists first attacked a police station in Kandahar where the defenders killed to Taliban

In total nine Taliban were killed during the major assault which claimed the lives of 37 other people 

Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said in a statement to media that the insurgents were still attacking Afghan forces and had killed 'many soldiers and destroyed vehicles and helicopters'. The claim could not be verified, and the Taliban often exaggerate battlefield victories.

The Taliban has launched a major offensive in recent months, even managing to capture and hold the northern city of Kunduz for three days.

The Afghan army has been responsible for security since January and has struggled to cope with the jihadi threat. 

The southern province of Kandahar, with the provincial capital of the same name, is a Taliban heartland. The sprawling airport in Kandahar city, known as Kandahar Air Field has both a military and a civilian section, as well as a Nato base.

In Brussels, a Nato spokesman for the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said there were no coalition casualties in the Kandahar assault.

US Army Colonel Michael Lawhorn said the Taliban 'never physically entered the airfield' in Kandahar but fired toward the air base from positions inside a nearby school.

Meanwhile, reports from the western Herat province said dozens of insurgents were killed in clashes between rival Taliban factions - the mainstream group loyal to Mullah Akhtar Mansoor and the breakaway faction that follows renegade Taliban commander Mullah Mohammad Rasool, said Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial police chief.

It is not known whether new Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour is still alive after it was reported he was killed in a shootout with a rival faction 

He said: 'Since last two days of intense battle, between rival Taliban commanders in Shindand district, there are reports of more than 100 Taliban fighters being killed from both sides.'

Rival Taliban factions also attacked each other in Zerko, with 30 insurgents wounded.

Ahmadi also said that battle has forced a number of villagers to flee, but that there have been no reports of civilian casualties so far.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousof Ahmadi denied the reports of the infighting, saying instead that the Taliban are fighting local police forces in Shindand district in Herat province. 

Qarai Yousuf Ahmadi, spokesman for the terrorist organisation said jihadis wearing suicide vests are attacking the airport building.

This follows an earlier attack when two suicide bombers exploded while assaulting a police station in Kandahar.

In Herat, more than more than 50 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in renewed fighting between rival Taliban factions in Shindand district in the western part of the country.

The latest clashes underlined the fragmented state of the Islamist movement since the Taliban confirmed in July that its founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had died more than two years earlier in 2013.

Rival groups have rejected the authority of Omar's successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour and called for a new process to choose a leader. There has been intermittent fighting in which scores have been killed.

The Taliban has been involved in factional fighting as well as an attempt to overthrow the government