An attack targeting Kandahar international airport in Afghanistan on Tuesday evening claimed the lives of at least nineteen people and left at least twenty other injured.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack at the heavily fortified airport, the BBC reports.

A spokesperson for the provincial governor informed that the attackers had managed to breach the first gate of the complex, which houses the joint NATO and Afghan military headquarters.

The troops put up heavy resistance against the insurgents, with some reports suggesting that commandos were deployed to the area.

Several civilians are believed to be among the dead and wounded.

The Bulgarian Defence Ministry informed that no Bulgarian servicemen were injured in the attack as the area of their deployment is different from the site of the attack.

According to the press service of the ministry, control of the area was restored around midnight local time, but other reports suggest that fighting is continuing on Wednesday with the attackers having taken hostages at a school and homes located nearby.

Bulgarian troops have been deployed to Afghanistan in the past thirteen years for participation in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and its successor the Resolute Support mission.

There has been a surge in violence in the area recently, with the airport in Kandahar targeted by a rocket attack on Monday.