Dozens of Afghan Security Forces Killed in Taliban Attack

A senior official from the Afghan Ministry of Defense stated that on Monday, the Taliban killed over 100 members of the Afghan National Security Forces at a military base in Maidan Wardak province. The official, who requested anonymity, added: "The information we have indicates that 126 people were killed due to an explosion inside this base. Eight of the special forces commandos are also among the dead." Reuters reported, citing this official, that the attacks on Monday began with a vehicle carrying explosives passing through a checkpoint and detonating inside a military training center in the city of Maidan, the provincial capital of Maidan Wardak. Moments after the explosion, two armed attackers entered the base and shot many soldiers before they were killed in a firefight. Afghan Ministry of Defense officials stated that the Taliban fighters used an American Humvee, seized from the Afghan army, to breach the base's fortifications during the attack. Government and military sources in Maidan Wardak also reported that at least 100 Afghan military personnel were killed in the attack. Sharif Hotak, a member of the Maidan Wardak local council, said he personally saw the bodies of 35 soldiers at the hospital. He added: "Some of the bodies and part of the injured have been transferred to Kabul. The government is not announcing the exact casualty figures to prevent further demoralization of the army soldiers." He stated: "The explosion was very powerful, and the entire base building has been destroyed." Government officials in Kabul and Maidan Wardak declined to comment on allegations of concealing the exact number of casualties. However, two Ministry of Interior officials said that the exact casualty figures were not disclosed to prevent anxiety among the armed forces. Reuters quoted Abdul Rahman Mengal, spokesman for the Maidan Wardak governor, as saying that the explosion of a bomb-laden vehicle near the special forces base resulted in 12 deaths and 12 injuries. The office of Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan, issued a statement saying: "The enemies of the country have attacked the national security forces in Maidan city. They have killed and wounded several of our loyal sons." In recent years, the Afghan government has not disclosed casualty figures. Last year, Ashraf Ghani announced that approximately 28,000 military and police personnel had been killed since 2015, marking the first casualty figures released by the government in a long time. The Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday's attack, with Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the group, stating that 190 people were killed in their attack on the Maidan city military base. In a Taliban operation last week, at least five people were killed and over 110 Afghans and foreign nationals were injured due to the explosion of a bomb-laden vehicle in Kabul.