Taliban insurgents attacked the airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Tuesday and were engaged in fighting with security forces, regional officials said.

"Several insurgents (have) taken up position inside a school and (are) firing at the airport," said Sameem Khpalwak, a spokesman for the local governor. He said there were no reports of casualties and Afghan government forces were returning fire.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said a number of suicide attackers had entered the airport grounds and were fighting security forces.

The attack follows an earlier incident in which two suicide bombers died assaulting a police station in Kandahar, one of the traditional strongholds of the Taliban.