Afghanistan attack: 'More than 100 security officers' killed in Taliban assault on military base, official says
Deaths come as Taliban continue peace talks with US envoy in Qatar
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.More than 100 security forces members have been killed in a Taliban assault on a military base in eastern Afghanistan, an official said.
An interior ministry spokesperson said a suicide car bomber struck the base first, followed by insurgents who opened fire at the Afghan forces in Maidan Shar, the capital of Maidan Wardak province.
An official in the defence ministry, speaking anonymously, told Reuters the death toll was as high as 126.
“We have information that 126 people have been killed in the explosion inside the military training center,” the official said.
However, confusion reigned over the number of casualties after provincial officials later said at least 45 had been killed, with as many as 70 wounded.
Another security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media, told the AP he personally counted as many as 75 dead bodies at the base.
All the gunman who stormed the base after the suicide car bomb died during the firefight, a provincial official said earlier.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack shortly afterwards. The assault came just one day after a suicide bomber from the Islamist insurgent group targeted the convoy of the governor of Logar province.
Seven of the governor's bodyguards were killed in the blast, but the governor escaped unharmed.
The military base in Maidan Wardak which was attacked earlier on Monday is reportedly a training centre run by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan's main intelligence agency.
Eyewitnesses reported a stolen US-made armoured Humvee paced with explosives was driven into the facility, before gunmen wearing NDS uniforms opened fire.
The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, condemned the assault in a statement, calling it a terrorist act by "enemies of the country" and expressed his condolences for the families of those killed and injured.
"They killed and wounded a number of our beloved and honest sons," he said.
The three-figure death toll would make this the single deadliest attack by the Taliban on government security forces in the 17 years of their long-running insurgency.
A former provincial official told Reuters he had spoken with the NDS in the province who confirmed over 100 members of the agency had been killed.
Another local official, Sharif Hotak, saw the bodies of at least 35 Afghan security forces in the hospital and said many more had also been killed.
"The government was hiding the accurate casualty figures to prevent a further dip in morale of the Afghan forces," he claimed.
"Several bodies were transported to Kabul city and many injured were transferred to hospitals in Kabul. The explosion was very powerful. The whole building has collapsed."
An interior ministry official in Kabul admitted there had been an effort to cover up the extent of the casualties.
"I have been told not to make the death toll figures public. It is frustrating to hide the facts," he said.
Last year, Mr Ghani said 28,000 Afghan police officers and soldiers had been killed in just the last three years.
Even as the Taliban stepped up its armed campaign against the Afghan government, the group embarked on a fresh round of peace talks with American representatives in Qatar.
"Talks between Taliban leaders and U.S. officials have started today in Qatar," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement
The US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has also been visiting regional powers in the Middle East as part of a fresh push to end the long-running Afghan war.
According to the US, the Taliban are now in control of roughly half of Afghanistan.
The peace talks have been strained by the militants' refusal to meet with officials from the Afghan government, which it considers to be US "puppets".
Any deal which sees the Taliban abandon their insurgency would likely see the militants included in a future Afghan government.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments