[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.80]Eleven Taliban fighters attacked an important airport [00:04.92]in southern Afghanistan early Tuesday, [00:07.80]killing at least 50 people, Afghan officials say. [00:12.24]The Afghan Defense Ministry said 38 civilians, [00:16.84]10 soldiers and two police officers were killed. [00:22.12]The attack on the Kandahar Air Field lasted 20 hours, [00:28.00]reported the Washington Post. [00:29.85]Among the dead were women and children, the newspaper wrote. [00:36.44]The airport includes a military base [00:39.88]with troops from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. [00:45.68]There were no reports that NATO troops were killed or injured in the attack. [00:52.84]A spokesman for the Taliban [00:55.08]says fighters entered the base [00:57.92]and attacked local and foreign military troops. [01:02.40]He said more than 150 soldiers were killed in the attack. [01:08.64]The Taliban often makes claims about the results of their attacks that are not true. [01:16.68]Taliban attacks have grown in number and strength [01:20.52]in Afghanistan this year [01:23.04]after the withdrawal last year of combat troops from other countries. [01:29.04]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.