Kandahar provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Razzaq, who was at the base for a meeting when the attack began, said at least three insurgents took over an office in front of the base and started shooting. Fighting continues at the base. which is home to NATO troops, including Americans, and a provincial reconstruction team.
Afghan and coalition forces have made gains in southern Afghanistan in the past two years, routing insurgents from their strongholds. They are trying to hold that territory in the south while shifting resources to deal with insurgent hotspots in the east.
Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said two of the attackers have been killed, but he had no other details.
A hospital in Kandahar said at least one civilian was killed and at least two others and a member of the Afghan security forces were wounded.
In neighboring Helmand province, the governor's office said an Afghan police officer has been accused of kidnapping Abdul Satar, a tribal elder and son of a former governor of Helmand. The officer is accused of trying to extort $200,000 from the victim's family.
A search operation located the elder after he had been held for about 13 hours. The police officer was arrested, and authorities were trying to find two other policemen suspected of being involved in the kidnapping.
In another case, eight policemen and three suspected killers have been arrested in Herat province in the west in connection with the death of a civilian in Nahri Sarraj district of Helmand province, the governor's office said.
Also in the west, an Afghan policeman was killed when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb Thursday afternoon in Pusht Rod district of Farah province, said provincial police chief Sayad Mohammad Roshandil.
