Kandahar International Airport was originally built in the early 1960s by American engineers and Afghan workers. The United States provided US$15 million in aid. The airfield itself was completed in 1962 by Morrison Knudsen, which was contracted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Bearing a great resemblance to typical Afghan architecture of the time, its original purpose was a safe refueling stop for long-range piston engined aircraft traveling between Europe and Southeast Asia. However, with the advent of jet aircraft, such stops were no longer necessary, and the airport saw little use. Some speculate that since the airport was designed as a military base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a war between the United States and the former USSR. While the Americans were busy building the Kandahar Airport, the Soviets were busy in the north, building the Kabul Airport. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the airfield was used intensively by the Soviet Air Forces, both as logistical facility for flying in troops and supplies and as a base for launching airstrikes against local Mujahideen groups. Fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense. However, Kandahar airport was left relatively untouched and its main building was largely intact at the end of the war. The airstrip did suffer extensive damage that was subsequently repaired by the United Nations in the mid-1990s to support humanitarian flights. The airport was mostly used at this time for military and humanitarian purposes, hosting regular flights of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to and from Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat, and Peshawar. Ariana Afghan Airlines (the national carrier of Afghanistan) also flew infrequent flights out of Kandahar to Pakistan and a few locations in Afghanistan such as Herat, Kabul, and Jalalabad. The airport came into the public eye during the tense drama that was played out when Pakistani terrorists belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, who hijacked and landed Indian Airlines Flight 814 on the airfield in December 1999. During Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, Kandahar Airport was one of the first coalition bases established in Afghanistan. It was secured by the Light Armored Reconnaissance element of the US Marines 15th MEU and elements of the 26th MEU in mid-December 2001, just a few weeks after the first coalition footprint was established by the United States Army at Camp Rhino in the desert to the southwest. The airport was captured by an air insertion coinciding with a rapid overland push from troops based at Camp Rhino. Major battles between the Taliban and local anti-Taliban forces had been fought at the airport just days earlier, and when coalition troops arrived there were abandoned weapons – including a BM-21 still loaded with rockets – scattered around the terminal. Australian and Canadian special forces were amongst the first coalition troops to relocate to Kandahar Airport, and by Christmas Day the US-led coalition had established a footprint of at least 1,000 troops. A perimeter was quickly secured around the terminal building and airstrip, and initially all troops worked and lived in and around the main terminal building itself. The first spartan ablutions were established in the middle of a large rose garden out front, but shower facilities were not established for several weeks. The accommodation area began to enlarge down along the airfield to where the current military base is located, and by April the coalition presence had expanded to several thousand personnel. The 159th Combat Aviation Brigade became the main U.S. Army Aviation unit at the airport while the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing became the main USAF unit.